On June 2, 2022 we had the opportunity of speaking to Sir Nitin Desai, former Under Secretary General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations in a Leadership Conversation which focused on “The evolution and implementation of Sustainable Development”.
When asked about leadership, Sir Desai spoke about the importance of increasing opportunities in which youth can raise their voice as the realization of sustainable development depends on involving young people in decision-making. He mentioned the importance of intergenerational equity and how those who will be facing the consequences should be actively involved in decision-making.
Alejandra Fragoso asked about true sustainable development. Sir Desai spoke about how a few decades back, some people spoke about stopping development, which was unfair to developing countries compared to those who had already developed. He also mentioned the importance of considering both the environment and people’s needs.
The next question spoke about how we can implement sustainable development. To this, Sir Desai answered that we have translated sustainable development into goals but how we achieve these is as important as the goals themselves. We should be aware of and take into account the roadmap to achieving them.
Komal Mittal asked about how sustainable development has been integrated into the international agenda. To this, Sir Desai answered about the importance of the United Nations in the process of sustainable development. As ecosystems do not respect national boundaries. He also mentioned the importance of cooperation for sustainable development and the role of the UN to escalate political commitment, political dialogue, and the promotion of collaboration while also opening the dialogue to non-governmental actors.
Francisco Rentería asked about the role of citizens and Sir Desai spoke about the importance of community participation to create change. He also mentioned the importance of translating all the information that has emerged in the last decades to a language people can use and understand as everyone experiences climate change in a different way.
Sir Desai added that the three main areas of progress in the last decades are scientific consensus, the growth of climate action organizations, and the changes many companies have made. However, he mentioned that where we have not yet succeeded is getting international cooperation working more successfully.
While closing, Sir Desai mentioned that the most challenging issue is speaking to people in their own language, so increasing our range of languages is key to increasing our impact.
About our guest speaker
Sir Nitin Desai is an Indian economist and international civil servant. He was Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations from 1992 to 2003.

Nitin Desai was part of the Planning Commission of the Government of India where he served in various capacities. His principal work there was the establishment of a system of cost-benefit appraisal of public investment projects
From September 1985 to March 1987, he served as Senior Economic Adviser for the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) where he introduced the concept of sustainable development and was responsible for drafting the key chapters dealing with this aspect in the report of the Commission “Our Common Future”.