You can't fix what you can't measure.
You can't measure without reliable data.
And reliable data doesn't exist without funded statistical systems.
This isn't a technical problem — it's the foundation of every credible claim about progress on the #SDGs.
As AI drives surging power demand, attention is shifting beyond lithium-ion to long-duration energy storage that can support grids for 24+ hours. The challenge is no longer just generation, but how we store and manage it.
https://ow.ly/zQH350YA2XO
#Energy #AI #Sustainability
The World Bank’s latest update revises global extreme poverty in 2024 to 10.4% (847 million people). A small shift, but a meaningful one: better data, new surveys, and updated methods continue to reshape how we understand progress on the #SDGs
https://ow.ly/lCg950YA2Xv
The UN Statistical Commission ended earlier this month, but the conversations remain essential as we move toward #HLPF.
#AI readiness, #SDG data gaps, funding shocks, and #BeyondGDP were all on the table
We have broken down what mattered most at #UN57SC:
https://medium.com/p/6110dde9bd39
Private philanthropy contributed $68.2B to development (2020–2023), about 10% of official aid. New OECD data shows its role is not scale, but flexibility—supporting innovation and early-stage solutions that others can take to scale.
https://ow.ly/INMi50YzQQL
The AI divide is not just a tech issue. It is a development challenge.
A UN Goals Lounge discussion highlights gaps in connectivity, compute, skills, and local ecosystems shaping who benefits.
Watch: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k16/k16ih8h459
UNESCO just launched the 2026 Global Education Monitoring Report: 273 million children out of school, over half of countries can't track education gaps by wealth.
You can't fix what you can't measure.
www.unesco.org/gem-report/en/publicatio...
New from Devex: The U.S. is considering tying foreign aid to how countries vote at the United Nations. A potential shift toward a more transactional model of development finance, with implications for how SDG priorities are funded and implemented.
https://ow.ly/AQyX50YyUn2
Civil society has submitted its priorities for July's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Together 2030 calls it a turning point: from fragmented commitments to coordinated, financed action. Four years left to 2030.
https://ow.ly/Tfnp50Yz3g0
The U.S. is launching pilot surveys to understand how much energy data centers actually use. For those weight positive vs. negative impact of #AI, this is important. The conversation is shifting from estimates to official statistics.
https://ow.ly/wYWb50YyUiR
The World Bank’s March 2026 poverty update slightly revises global extreme poverty upward: 10.4% of the world’s population, or 847 million people, lived in extreme poverty in 2024. A reminder that better data can change the story we tell about progress.
https://ow.ly/lZ4Q50YyUfP
UN World Water Development Report 2026:
2.1B people lack safely managed drinking water. Women and girls spend 250 million hours a day collecting it, yet remain underrepresented in water governance. Gender equality and water access are the same story.
https://ow.ly/OCp450YynPS
Philanthropy is under pressure to move beyond rhetoric. At the Global Philanthropy Forum, funders confronted a hard question: as ODA collapses and systems strain, is the sector actually shifting power and practice — or just updating the language?
https://ow.ly/q2hx50YynJc
GiveDirectly is using AI to cut emergency cash delivery from 100+ days to under 24 hours in crisis zones like the DRC. As donor funding contracts, the case for faster, evidence-based, direct aid delivery is getting harder to ignore.
https://ow.ly/1UkN50Yynwe
#AI #TechForGood
The White House released an #AI policy framework urging a national standard over state rules. Focus: innovation, child safety, energy permitting. Not mentioned: international coordination, Global Digital Compact, or the #SDGs. The global AI governance gap keeps widening.
https://ow.ly/O6Vv50YynFa
Google's president says the US isn't scaling energy fast enough to meet AI demand. The tension between energy needs and climate goals is a part of #SDG7 and #SDG13.
We're working on a deep dive article exploring the interface between #AI impact and #CleanEnergy.
https://ow.ly/Pxeg50YynAf
The WMO's new State of the Climate report: greenhouse gas concentrations at record highs, the hottest 11 years in recorded history, and a new indicator showing Earth's energy imbalance is accelerating. Over 3 billion people depend on the systems most affected.
#SDG13
https://ow.ly/EfZ050Yy5qN
Five candidates are now in the race for UN Secretary-General, three of them women. No woman has held the role in 80 years. The next leader takes office in January facing deep aid cuts, a strained multilateral system, and three years to deliver on the #SDGs.
https://ow.ly/NWYZ50Yy5gl
ICYMI: The World Bank’s latest AI discussion focused on something more practical than frontier hype: how “small AI” can improve health, agriculture, education, and public services in low-resource settings without massive infrastructure.
https://ow.ly/bOpl50YxLAM
No country has yet achieved full legal equality between women and men. That's the baseline the Commission on the Status of Women agreed conclusions were built on.
37 countries voted yes. One (USA) voted no.
sdg.iisd.org/news/csw70-agrees-roadma...
#CSW70
At #SXSW 2026, some of the most useful AI conversations were not about capability. They were about humanity, purpose, and oversight.
Our latest highlights four sessions that asked what AI should do, and who gets to decide.
https://ow.ly/xyGk50YxLM9
New from WHO: a three-year effort to support digital health wallets in ASEAN countries, starting with vaccination records and expanding to broader health information.
It is investment in interoperable, portable, people-centered health data.
https://ow.ly/5h2X50YxLIW
The OECD's new Going Digital Measurement Roadmap lays out 10 actions for how national statistical systems need to adapt to measure the digital economy including AI, data flows, and the digital divide. The infrastructure for counting what matters is still being built.
https://ow.ly/C9aI50YwUhG
How unequal is the world? It depends on the data. Income vs. consumption. Surveys vs. tax records. Whether the richest households are captured. UNDESA breaks down why the world's leading inequality databases often tell completely different stories.
https://ow.ly/WTfo50YwVI7
Due Next Week:
The UN is calling for real-world evidence on what works for integrated implementation of the #SDGs. This includes everything from policy tools to grassroots solutions. Contributions will help shape the 2027 Global Sustainable Development Report.
More Info:
https://ow.ly/tr4O50YvPmu
The UN's first major financing for development report since last year's Seville summit is out. Trade, debt, private investment, data systems — it covers the full landscape of where SDG financing stands and what needs to happen next.
https://ow.ly/73s950YwU7o
#SXSW 2026 Adweek House finds #AI everywhere, but humanity still leads. As automation expands, the scarce assets increasingly look like judgment, taste, empathy, credibility, and relationship-building. https://ow.ly/pbnW50YwXtP
Our team follows a lot of events to bring you insights on the #SDGs and the data/tools driving development. Here is an event on your radar you definitely want on your calendar:
Forum on Science, Technology & Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals
May 6-7, 2026
https://ow.ly/wK7E50YwTBH
Happening later this month:
OECD’s 2026 International Conference on AI in Work, Innovation, Productivity and Skills (Mar 30–Apr 1)
This will bring together leaders across policy, business, and academia to examine how AI is reshaping work, skills, and productivity.
https://ow.ly/YPIl50YvPBm
A lot in this week's @Devex newswire: UN cuts risk shrinking the institution without fixing it. The UN Sec-Gen race heats up. A court saves a small Africa-focused agency from dismantling. And development banks may be breaking climate law.
https://ow.ly/yXvQ50YwU0i