On September 19, the Chairman and Editor in Chief of Forbes Media, Steve Forbes attended the FSUN Global Summit “SDG Convergence: Investments and Partnerships for the Global Goals” at the United Nations Headquarter. Mr. Forbes was invited by Foundation for The Support of The United Nations as a distinguished speaker to give an opening keynote speech. During his speech, Mr. Forbes alerted the audience that there have been a remarkable progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and more effort is needed to maintain that progress.
As he addressed the large number of ambassadors and business leaders at the UN ECOSOC Chamber, Mr. Steve Forbes had an optimistic tone that directed everyone’s attention to the advancement made towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda. “The foundation for progress is there and it is becoming more muscular and it is growing,” said Mr. Forbes. He also added that the real wealth of society that accelerates the pace of development is not physical things, but the human minds, the human imagination and the human determination.” These words served as a reminder that money or capital alone is not the solution to move forward. The solution is the human minds who direct these resources and are capable of imagining and making change.
Mr. Forbes highlighted several examples that indicate the growing progress to find solutions and end the challenging problems of our world today. He mentioned that “in the last 20 years the proportion of the world population living in extreme poverty is down by 50% .. it is a movement in the right direction.” He also referred to the growing understanding and use of renewable technology. He stated: “Global spending on renewable energy is outpacing investment on electricity, coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants.” In terms of investment, Mr. Forbes declared that there are a growing awareness and an increasing use of impact investing in the United States and around the world, which is a good sign that investors and the private sector are moving in the right direction to contribute to and achieve the 2030 Agenda.
With his sense of humor, Steve Forbes also criticized the arguments concerning the fear of the growing use of technology and robots. He disagreed with the claims that robots can replace the human workforce and insisted that they are tools to help humans work in simpler and more efficient ways. “We don’t refer to cars as artificial horses, we don’t refer to airplanes as artificial birds. These are instruments for us and sometimes because things are called robots, we don’t realize what they are.”
Mr. Steve Forbes indicated in his speech that economic stability and fewer trade barriers are essential to building a good environment for sustainable development. He acknowledged that the Sustainable Development Goals are ambitions, but he insisted that they are realizable. “Even though there is some pessimism about the 2030’s Agenda for the SDGs, the truth is those are not utopian goals”. The speech of Mr. Steve Forbes during the “The Investments and Partnerships For the Global Goals” Summit is similar to the motivation call that a fighter needs in the middle of his battle for a noble cause. Mr. Steve Forbes reminded the audience that the fight to end the problems of our planet by achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is successful and is moving in the right direction. All we need is the motivation to keep moving and the determination to maintain what we have achieved.
Translation: English to Chinese
2018年9月19日，福布斯媒体主席兼主编史蒂夫福布斯先生出席了在联合国总部举行的联合国支持基金会全球峰会- “可持续发展目标融合：为了全球目标的投资和伙伴关系”。福布斯先生受到联合国支持基金会的邀请，作为一位杰出的发言人发表主题演讲。福布斯先生在演讲中提出，我们在实现可持续发展目标方面取得了显着进展，并且需要做出更多努力来维持这一进展速度。
当史蒂夫·福布斯先生在联合国经社理事会会议厅向在场的大使和商界领袖们发表讲话时，他乐观的语气使每个人都注意到我们为实现“2030年议程”所取得到的进展。福布斯先生说：“进步的基础就在那里，而且它正在增长且变得越来越强大。” 他还补充说，“加速社会发展步伐的真正财富不是物质的东西，而是人的思想、人类的想象力和人类的决心。”这些话语提醒人们，仅仅靠金钱或资本本身并不能解决前进的问题，真正可以解决这些问题的是能够运用想象力来改变和指导这些资源的人类思想。
福布斯先生强调了几个例子，表明在寻找解决方案和结束当今世界的挑战性问题方面我们取得了越来越大的进展。他在会议中提到：“在过去20年中，生活在极端贫困中的世界人口比例已经下降了50％……这表明我们在朝着正确的方向发展。”他还提到了人们对可再生技术日益增长的理解和使用。他表明：“全球可再生能源的支出已经超过了人们对电力、煤炭、天然气和核电厂的投资。” 在投资方面，福布斯先生宣称，在美国和世界各地，人们对影响力投资的认识和使用日益增加。这是一个好迹象，它表明投资者和私营部门正为了2030年议程朝着正确的方向前进。
史蒂夫福布斯先生还幽默的批评了关于人们对科技和机器人的使用日益增长的担忧。他不同意机器人可以取代人类劳动力的说法，并坚称它们是帮助人们以更简单、更有效的方式进行工作的工具。 福布斯先生说：“我们不把汽车称为人工智能马，我们不把飞机称为人工智能鸟，这些是我们使用的工具，有时候仅仅因为那些东西被称为机器人，我们就没有意识到它们是工具。“
史蒂夫福布斯先生在演讲中表示，稳定的经济和减少贸易壁垒对于创造可持续发展的良好环境至关重要。他承认实现可持续发展目标是很有野心的，但他坚持认为这些目标是可以实现的。福布斯先生说， “尽管现在人们对实现2030年的可持续发展目标议程存在一些悲观看法，但事实是这些都不只是乌托邦类型的目标”。史蒂夫福布斯先生在“为了全球目标的投资和伙伴关系”峰会期间的讲话的重要性类似于战斗机在为高尚事业而战斗中所需要的动机。史蒂夫福布斯先生向在场观众提出，通过实现17个可持续发展目标来结束地球问题的斗争是成功的，并且我们正在朝着正确的方向前进。我们所需要的只是继续前进的动力以及维持我们所取得成就的决心。
