We all need to multiply our joint efforts to achieve the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations, states, businesses, scientific community and civil society are jointly looking for options for the future sustainable development of our planet. Special attention is paid to maintaining dialogue within the framework of UN conventions and programmes, and the creation of new initiatives of the organization is becoming critical.

The development of technologies, especially in the sphere of artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analysis, cloud computing, robotics, and blockchain technology are changing the economic, financial and political systems of the world.

Education, skills development, talent acquisition and retention remain key areas of development.

Heads of governments and businesses are becoming the main visionaries defining the most important tracks of the future universal sustainable development.

On the eve of the Ecumene Global Forum, as a follow-up to the Ecumene Discussion Club, to develop common, unified, long-term and systemic rules of the game, with the support of the UN Information Centre in Moscow, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, a dialogue to shape new UN goals for the period after 2030 was initiated.

The round table was dedicated to the topic of plastic waste management, the role of science, government, business and civil society in building an effective system of plastic waste management and closed-loop economy.

Waste management is one of the mechanisms of global sustainable development, the participants of the round table will share the experience of best practices in this area.

The problem of environmental pollution by plastic waste requires increased attention most particularly from the scientific community and should unite not only environmentalists, but also scientists: specialists in the field of polymer science.

Within this roundtable we touched upon the main characteristics of polymers and problems related to plastic waste pollution that remain behind the scenes, including the problem of terms, the relationship between the hazard and the size of plastic particles appearing in the process of plastic waste degradation, as well as the problem of microplastics.

This roundtable continued preparations for the creation of a new UN convention on plastic.

The round table was dedicated to the World Water Day. The main topic of discussion was the role of water in promoting peace, cooperation and stability, as well as identifying potential areas for sustainable investment in water projects.

We need to focus our joint efforts on achieving Goal #6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to provide water and sanitation for all by 2030.

We discussed sensitive and complex issues related to the global water crisis and climate change, highlighted new priorities for action to ensure sustainable development, proposed new tools for science and water diplomacy, and focused on financial innovations that facilitate water cooperation.

The key factors became the need to take into account water diplomacy and its advantages as a tool for achieving peace and cooperation, demonstrating leading examples of overcoming barriers and strengthening business partnerships in the field of water and climate change, building youth initiatives for an inclusive sustainable future, and strengthening cooperation of international experts on issues related to water and climate agenda.

The introduction of artificial intelligence creates new jobs and opens up new opportunities for the younger generation. This approach helps businesses attract and develop talent and build a strong, smart, socially competent organization.

You need to invest in employee and team training, it's a whole new vision of workforce and talent attraction in which it's important to invest your own time, effort and financial resources. The era of artificial intelligence will require additional professional education. To meet these challenges, we need a young, talented generation that can become the most educated, most skilled and most productive workforce in the world.

We need to develop and implement technology. With the help of a technical solution, people's jobs will change and develop, creating new, additional professions, opportunities for work and creativity. Machines are human partners, they help us stay successful, give us more time and opportunities to be creative, find additional incredible things we can organize or do.

We need to understand the benefits of humans and machines working together, how to use artificial intelligence in business and gain strategic advantages, and how to create a smarter and more intelligent organization. This should be a collaborative effort in which machines and humans can be more effective together, addressing global threats that would probably not otherwise be addressed.

The next generation of leaders in global sustainable development are those who are already implementing projects and programs aimed at building long-term and strong bridges between countries in order to establish cooperation and achieve synergy from working together at the intersection of different areas.

In the context of large-scale geopolitical changes, cooperation among young leaders who understand their responsibility for the fate of the world is becoming critically important. Representatives of Friends for Leadership and the UN Major Group on Children and Youth shared their best practices in achieving the 2030 SDGs, as well as ideas on the necessary global efforts to continue constructive, collaborative global development into 2050 and beyond.

In addition, the panelists shared plans for participation in key international events of the year, including Ecumene Global Forum and the Summit of the Future under the auspices of the UN.