OWG Proposed Target 9.5
RATING: GOOD – generally, R&D has high benefits relative to costs, thought the difficulty in this target is obtaining the funds, resources and human capital to support innovation. Part of this will be developing the right conditions for innovation, and strengthening the innovation value chain to attract resources and talent.
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In our recent report, not just the target above, but all 169 targets have been assessed by 60 teams of the world’s top economists. The targets have been categorized into five ratings based on evidence of economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits. While we applaud that the UN Open Working Group's final outcome document contains 43 fewer targets than the previous document, we are concerned that many targets have simply been combined, therefore reducing the number of both phenomenal and poor targets assessed according to our cost-benefit analysis. Our new assessment includes suggestions for how these can be improved as reported in this article by the Financial Times.
