Data & Analytics play a vital role in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) specifically emphasizes the need to enhance the availability of high-quality, timely, and reliable data. Accurate data and insightful analytics are essential for assessing progress, identifying gaps, making informed decisions, and creating effective policies related to each of the SDGs. For instance, they can help enhance education systems (SDG 4), optimize health services (SDG 3), reduce poverty (SDG 1), and mitigate climate change impacts (SDG 13). Moreover, advances in data collection methods, including mobile technology and remote sensing, can provide valuable insights for achieving sustainability. Therefore, robust data and analytics are integral to monitoring and accomplishing the SDGs.
COP26 is the 2021 United Nations annual climate change conference. COP stands for Conference of the Parties. Parties are the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty agreed in 1994 which has 197 Parties (196 countries and the EU). The 2021 conference, hosted by the UK, together with our partners Italy, in Glasgow, will be the 26th meeting of the Parties, which is why it's called COP26.