Multilateral institutions provide the platforms for putting multilateralism into action and are the basic architecture underpinning global governance. The twenty-first century has experienced a panoply of crises and new governance challenges that have often been triggered by different processes of globalization and their outcomes.

These myriad crises include worsening climate change, the inconclusive race to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, earthquakes and natural disasters, successive COVID-19 waves or pandemics, increasing food insecurity worldwide, deepening inequalities, the ongoing war in Ukraine and other new and lasting conflicts, and instabilities of global consequences with attendant dramatic humanitarian crises. These crises are also coupled with a set of new global challenges: the quest to strengthen health systems, the impact of new technologies, the scope of digital and economic trans- formations, and the management of ungoverned global common spaces, such as the seabed, outer space or Antarctica, as well as the responsibility for common custody of global public goods.

Consequently, new global governance models with institutional innovations are needed at different levels to keep up with a changing and often deteriorating global environment—locally, regionally, and globally. Governance models must be more networked and inclusive, providing for cooperation not only across borders but also across the whole of society, with their transparency and effectiveness safeguarded. An active and effective multilateralism requires flexible formats, light structures, and efficient tools. Only an organization that is inclusive and equitable will be able to sustain the world for the future. As the UN General Assembly stated in its resolution 75/1 on the occasion of the UN’s 75th anniversary:

We need a new social contract within States and a new global deal between States. We need new global governance, rebalanced financial and trade systems, effective delivery of critical global public goods and decision-making guided by standards of sustainability… A renewal of multilateralism must be based on fair globalization, on the rights and dignity of every human being, on living in balance with nature, on taking account of the rights of future generations and on success measured in human rather than economic terms.

Global governance encompasses the norms, standards, rules, and decision-making processes in a world undergoing different stages of globalization. Following the multiple crises of the past five years, some observers have predicted the onset of deglobalization, while others perceive the onset of a period of re-globalization. Yet, all pundits agree that we are witnessing a world in fragmentation with uncertain outcomes.

It is beyond any doubt that international security, poverty eradication environmental protection, climate protection, urban development, science cooperation, technological and digital engagement, and respect for human rights must be part and parcel of a new emerging set of global governance structures for the next decades. Global governance in such a fragmented world comprises a wide range of topics, disciplines, knowledge, and skills. It is bound to include the creation of new global norms, standards, and practices commensurate to the contours of the new world, enhanced by digital tools from the industry 4.0 toolbox. It should also provide modalities for enhanced coordination among countries beyond the traditional realm of international organizations, mostly created after World War II. This shall include also new modes of cooperation between all stakeholders and new types of entities, new modalities aiming at equitable economic and political representation as well as improved mechanisms for dispute and conflict settlement and resolution, not constrained by ineffective structures like the UN Security Council.

In addition to developing norms and standards, the impact of digital innovations and technologies, managing urban development, and promoting sustainable development, one particular focus in this paper will be on science, which is universal and a global public good, and its contribution to global governance. Science is apt to bring to the fore progress toward a more sustainable world, crossing national, cultural, and mental borders while drawing on a whole range of disciplines from natural sciences to social sciences and the humanities.

Governance in the digital era needs to be not only innovation-friendly but also innovative. Interoperable standards, frameworks, and regulatory cooperation are indispensable. With the involvement of all relevant stakeholders, international as well as national policy formulation is instrumental to cope with a wide range of societal challenges and to facilitate the incorporation of technologies into policy processes.

Innovation is the process of turning new ideas into value, in the form of new products, services, or ways of doing things. Innovation is a deceptively complex activity that goes beyond creativity and invention, poised to include practical steps necessary for adoption. It is now widely accepted that innovation fuels a majority of the world’s long-term productivity and economic growth. Pushing the boundaries of information technologies, many innovations will generate disruptive technologies.

Establishing new norms of ethical behavior regarding digital technology, especially artificial intelligence, will be critical for a successful future. Digital governance is an essential leverage of prosperity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability with measurable results.

In the age of globalization, cities have been playing an increasingly important role in the development of their countries and the world as a whole. Urbanization has changed and continues to change countries, as intercity connections and cross- country relationships have become new dynamic features of geopolitics.

The density of cities enables innovation, providing testbeds to gauge the effectiveness of solutions. Through the collective efforts of all actors and through the harnessing of transformative technologies and enlightened urban policies, the true potential of the cities of the future can be demonstrated. This also necessitates a focus on innovative means for governance, drawing on the power of new digital tools.

Cities are at a crossroads. Rapid urbanization—if not effectively managed— threatens to paralyze local economies and to jeopardize advances in the quality of life. Cities must innovate to achieve sustainability, to advance social well-being, and to boost economic competitiveness.

To contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth in urban areas, and to give rise to smart cities, networking and experience-sharing among cities are essential. The demands on cities are diversifying, deepening, and quickening. Traditional governance structures and policy-making models no longer suffice; they must become more agile and responsive. Governments must move beyond simply understanding major technological advances. They must stimulate and harness them to govern better.

Urban governance is influenced by many uncertain factors, which pose great challenges to the sustainable future of cities. The growing concentration of populations in urban areas leads to serious congestions, shortages of goods and services as well as environmental degradation. The demand for interconnectivity between cities is continuously growing, as cities innovate better when they connect and cooperate in an organized way. The most successful cities will be those that recognize and adapt to specific local challenges, while pushing innovation forward. This connectivity can help build an open economic system that includes policy communication, connectivity of facilities, smooth trade conditions, and people-to-people exchanges and interactions. The application of artificial intelligence technology and big data will generate new engines for the construction of urban networks.

China can contribute to global governance in a fragmented world by providing leadership, transparency, and  openness in  all these  areas engaging in constructive dialogue with other states and global partners, thereby underlining the value of multilateral cooperation. China can play an important role in helping to foster global economic growth and development by adhering to the rules-based global economy and trade and refining it further. Today, the fastest growing flows in the world economy are no longer trade in goods, but data, services, capital and intellectual property, standards, talents, and ideas. Global value chains and prosperity in the world economy are built on such flows. Dispelling the notion of deglobalization, the world remains deeply interconnected with different types of resilient resource flows, which are dynamic and subject to shifts in their composition over time. Today, no region is self-sufficient and every region imports significant portion of resources or manufactured goods required. Global flows are central to the functioning of economies and of businesses. Multinationals, which account for about two-thirds of global exports, play a pivotal role and are guided by established global rules.

China, in collaboration with other countries, is also engaged in helping create and implement new norms and standards. Such standards form the core of a global technical governance framework that helps develop worldwide, agreed-upon norms and procedures. In 2021, China’s National Standardization Development Outline (NSD) was the first such document in the public domain. The NSD visualizes a standardized system that promotes high-tech innovation and “opening up” in the technology sector while also leading to high-quality development.

Standardization will allow China to optimize its manufacturing industry and improve economic returns. Technical standards can provide better economic gains through licenses and royalties for its already established manufacturing sector. The Chinese government is now banking on technical standards to achieve competence and excellence in critical technologies, which will be critical for the global economy in the coming decades.

China’s growing influence and leadership in global standard-setting bodies such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has raised concern among Western powers. Under Beijing’s “Standards 2035” project, the country’s approach toward technical standardization is tied closely with the country’s economic development and its geopolitical aspirations. China is influencing supply chains worldwide, given its accomplishments with respect to several emerging technologies, such as telecommunications, quantum computing, and electric vehicles (EVs). In these areas, innovation goes hand in hand with standardization.

China has successfully demonstrated its diplomatic skills and state influence by increasing the number of Chinese officials, technocrats, and private sector leaders in key leadership positions in UN institutions as well as other multilateral entities,major working groups, and technical committees of international technical standard-setting bodies. Moreover, with the influence it has achieved at such organizations, China has pushed for the acceptance of its businesses standards as de facto international technical standards in several crucial sectors.

Beyond trade and standardization, we are living in an era in which the importance of cooperation between scientists and diplomats, and the need for mutual understanding in a variety of areas is rising. In the last ten years, science has become intertwined with the development of human society to the extent that the interests of countries as well as global companies are now deeply involved.

As the world experiences continued breakthroughs, whether it is the exponential advances in science and technology, such as advanced artificial intelligence (AI), genome editing, quantum computing, or synthetic biology, at an unprecedented pace, new governance arrangements and multilateral approaches will be needed. This will entail rethinking and reorganizing the complex relationships and interactions between scientists, politicians, diplomats, entrepreneurs, academicians, and citizens, whose agendas, worldviews, mindsets, experiences, and responsibilities are all very different, and sometimes contradictory.

Science lies at the heart of sustainable development as it establishes a factual basis, anticipates future consequences,and contributes to finding path ways to sustainable transitions. Scientific input could help us move past geopolitical debates that compromise progress and it is essential in addressing specific challenges such as the sustainable management of natural resources, disaster risk reduction, or climate change action. Science can also help build resilience and deal with natural disasters, the management of limited freshwater or mineral resources, as well as the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Inspired and guided by the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international scientific and engineering communities are poised to help shape the future of global societies, in particular through the emerging interdisciplinary field of sustainability science.

The complexity of contemporary global challenges has increased the need and space for “science diplomacy,” which is defined as the use of scientific input and collaboration among countries to address common problems facing humanity in the 21st century. It is primarily the intentional application of sciences, both natural and social, and of scientific expertise in furtherance of diplomatic objectives and to build constructive international partnerships.

While the concept of science diplomacy first emerged in the Cold War era as major actors projected soft power, it is now a concept and a process that can be used by all countries to further their direct national interests and those shared with regional and global communities. A three-part typology introduced in 2010 by the Royal Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) distinguishes between: science in diplomacy, diplomacy for science, and science for diplomacy. Anticipation of future science-policy interactions and challenges focus on anticipation and foresight regarding future developments in science-policy interactions.

In the past decades, science diplomacy has become integral to reaching foreign policy and internationally agreed development goals. It mirrors the importance of science for modern society in the face of a myriad of challenges. Science for diplomacy can also contribute toward more international cooperation and, ultimately, more peaceful international relations.

Science diplomacy is increasingly relevant in the context of the UN’s 17 Sustain- able Development Goals (SDGs), the proliferating science-policy interfaces, the practices of “boundary spanning,” and anticipation of future science-policy inter- actions. Increasingly, non-governmental entities are also being created, such as the Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI) or the Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), based in Geneva. Science cooperation must further be intensified also among academies and universities and by forging new corporate alliances transcending national frontiers.

More than a fashionable concept in current multilateral diplomacy, the concept of science diplomacy represents a fundamental element in reshaping and reinforcing international cooperation. As an approach that enables the development and implementation of policies based on scientific evidence, science diplomacy could contribute to alleviating the consequences of current major challenges, from armed conflicts, climate change, and loss of biodiversity, to inequalities and global health issues. Global governance systems will have to adjust and evolve accordingly.

But structures for effective and systematic science diplomacy are often lacking. Few governments have science deeply embedded within their diplomatic or strategic approaches. Instead, they may perceive science as something primarily to support trade or security negotiations. However, good examples of science diplomacy exist at the regional or bilateral level with many heads of government appointing chief scientific advisersand anumberofforeignministershave formed a Network of Science and Technology Advisors. At the multilateral level, the UN Secretary-General established in 2012 a Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by the UNESCO Director-General, the Secretariat of which I was privileged to direct. From China, Prof. Gong Ke of Nankai University served on this Board which was unfortunately dissolved in 2015. Several other intergovernmental organizations, such as the World Bank and other regional development banks, UNCTAD, UNEP, WHO, FAO as well as international organizations like the IUCN have appointed highly respected chief scientists to guide their mutual interactions and their engagements with governments and other organizations. At the insistence of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, the UN Secretary-General has also recently resumed efforts to create a scientific advisory structure. Many national academies of science and leading universities are similarly engaged in global, regional, and cross-border interaction and scientific exchanges.

Science, technology, and innovation (STI) can make significant, if not essential contributions toward mitigating the sustainability challenges facing urban societies, which are also in the process of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This can happen outside formalized international agreements and understandings. Across borders, STI have helped build resilient communities by extending access to education and health, monitoring environmental and social risks, connecting people, enabling early warning systems, driving economic diversification, and economic development. Combined with ICTs and digitization, STI have enhanced human welfare, economic prosperity, and employment.

The international policy system receives high-quality scientific advice on specialized topics in the form of reports by the Intergovernmental Panels on Climate Change (IPCC) or Intergovernmental Panels on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (IPBES) or at the July2021Conference on the Oceans inLisbon. These are also put forward through established bodies like the International Hydrological Programme(IHP),the Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)—all part of UNESCO. These programmes are science diplomacy in action, designed to strengthen scientific cooperation and to bring knowledge and evidence on various dimensions of earth sciences into the public policy mix concerning natural resources. Indeed, they are an entirely new generation of global governance tools and processes. Beyond state-driven and other public sector exchanges, there are also private sector technology R&D ventures, including technology for disease surveillance and early warning systems.

The range of emerging issues is driving a much-needed enhanced emphasis on the shared global objectives and thus the greater need for science diplomacy. We are living in a paradoxical age: while globalization is being impaired by various countries and actors, the need to address the many issues of the global commons as well as regional challenges is rising which might benefit from scientific inputs to find solutions. Riding out these multi-crises and preventing a destructive world polarization,we need to foster a renewed cooperative world order and multilateralism in the midst of a volatile and fast-changing context.

Through the science-policy-society interface, science can advance the UN’s 2030 Agenda. In that context, science encompasses the natural sciences and engineering, life sciences and medicine, social sciences and humanities, law, and more. Although not all technological innovations directly originate from science, many scientific advances are key to the process of producing new and more sustainable technologies.

Drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must build a new global research architecture so as to strengthen and organize interdisciplinary scientific collaboration in a transparent and accountable manner. During the COVID pandemic, we also have seen the pivotal role played by cities and city leaders worldwide, which have demonstrated the effectiveness of new types of international cooperation.

Interdisciplinary research has received growing support from international programmes, facilitated by the International Council of Science Unions and the International Social Science Council. The related rise in interdisciplinary research led not only to a rapidly expanding body of valuable evidence but also to the symbolic merger of those institutions into the International Science Council (www.council.science).

It brings together more than 140 national scientific organizations, including academies and research councils, and 40 international scientific unions and associations. It works to catalyze and convene international scientific expertise on issues of major global concern and to effectively integrate science into policy and public action. Other leading non-state organizations are the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (www.wfeo.org) with more than 110 multidisciplinary engineering organizations from across the world and the Inter Academy Partnership, which is raising awareness and understanding of the SDGs among academies, and encour- aging them to engage with national and regional processes to ensure that they can be more informed by evidence.

Overall, scientific research and science diplomacy focused on sustainable development must uphold the highest standards of scientific rigor, in particular transparency, reproducibility, falsifiability, and compliance with specific standards of the discipline. There are inspiring examples of scientific evidence stirring awareness of global challenges, such as stratospheric ozone depletion, deforestation, and HIV/ AIDS, which led to the creation of new international governance frameworks in the UN framework.

Improvements in data availability and new methods, such as integrated modeling and scenario building, have enabled exploration and discussion of possible trajectories of environmental change and given birth to initiatives like The World in 2050, which explores transformational pathways to the SDGs and beyond.

Major international environmental agreements have scientific assessment bodies that present evidence and common understandings to decision-makers on deciding difficult and complex topics. International scientific assessments can collect existing knowledge and build consensus on key insights. However, more effort is needed to integrate regional perspectives and maximize synergies across different scientific assessments.

At present, there are three types of assessments, which differ greatly in terms of their scope, organization, participation, and perceived degree of policy relevance:

(a) Intergovernmental scientific assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity  and Ecosystem Services, the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge,  Science and Technology for Development or the Global Environment Outlook;

(b) Scientific-technical assessments in the form of United Nations flagship reports including the Global Biodiversity Outlook, the Human Development Report, and the World Economic and Social Survey;

(c) Scientific research collaborations such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Global Energy Assessment.

Science, technology, and innovation strategies are integral elements of national sustainable development plans and strategies, strengthening knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and scale up investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Their interlinkages will give rise to new governance features, while arrangements for and the promotion of international, regional, subregional, and interregional joint multi-stakeholder research and development projects, as well as training programmes and university-to-university collaborations can provide new and stabilized governance frameworks. These can help strengthen synergies and build international coherence.

Science, technology, and innovation play an ever-increasing role in accelerating the pace of economic diversification and transformation, improving productivity and competitiveness, as well as enabling the full participation of developing countries in the global economy. The creation, development, and diffusion of new innovations and technologies and associated know-how, including the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, are powerful drivers of economic growth and sustainable development overcoming divides in knowledge, skills, and professional abilities among countries and peoples of different gender and age groups.

A key enabler of sustainable development and a driver of science diplomacy in the coming years will be the digital revolution, constituted by ongoing advances in artificial intelligence, connectivity, digitization of information, additive manufacturing, virtual reality, machine learning, blockchains, robotics, quantum computing, and synthetic biology. The digital revolution is already reshaping work, leisure, behavior, education, and governance. Overall, those contributions can raise labor, energy, resource, and carbon productivity, reduce production costs, expand access to services, and may even dematerialize production.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and digital ecosystems also play a fundamental role in the digital development and facilitation of STI while science diplomacy can also entail strategic foresight exercises on global and regional challenges of a geostrategic nature, the conduct of technology assessments, and the establishment of a mapping system, thus encouraging a structured debate among stakeholders toward creating a shared understanding of the implications of rapid technological change.

New technologies increase the demand for digital skills and competencies. Education, training, and capacity-building in science, technology, and innovation have the potential to not only provide new skills and widen employment opportunities, but also address market needs and solidify governance structures.

To sum up, science, technology, and innovation, including environmentally sound technologies and information and communications technologies, are critical in the pursuit of sustainable development and are one of the key means of implementation of the intergovernmentally agreed development outcomes, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. Action in these fields will determine the new facets of global governance.