28^th SDC: The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) is pleased to announce its 28^th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) to be held from 4 – 7 November 2025 in Islamabad, Pakistan.  

For more than a quarter of a century, the SDC has become a hallmark of SDPI's contributions towards advocating and supporting a sustainable world through engaging the primary stakeholders, providing evidence-based policy solutions and building capacities to implement these solutions. For more details of the past editions of the SDC and the evolving agenda for 28^th SDC, please visit https://sdpi.org/sdconference/.

The SDC is a flagship event, hosted in the picturesque Islamabad, bringing together thought leaders from different segments of society including politicians, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, development partners, civil society organization and academics from across the globe for engaging discussions and meaningful dialogues on national, regional and global challenges and opportunities. 

Purpose and Overarching Theme

Continuing its tradition to provide a thought leadership in changing environments, SDPI is providing a platform where the participants will come together for an insightful exchange on “Sustainable Development in the Emerging World Dis|Order”.

The Changing Global Landscape

Critical Crossroads: Humanity stands at a critical crossroads and at a crucial turning point shaped by rapid geopolitical and economic shifts, escalating climate crises, technological disruptions, and funding constraints. Global transformations driven by the rise of Artificial Intelligence, depleting global cooperation amid historic high vulnerabilities of the world and widening social, political and economic divide within and across the countries and regions, are challenging business-as-usual approaches and calling for innovative leadership, out-of-the-box policy solutions, and a robust roadmap to address challenges and seize emerging opportunities. All this together calls for integrated efforts at national, regional and global levels.

Peace Preservation: Against this backdrop of global volatility and shifting regional dynamics, it is crucial to underscore the urgent need for inclusive dialogue involving all relevant stakeholders. Such dialogue is essential not only to address existing tensions but also to prevent misunderstandings from escalating into conflict. Every effort must be made to preserve peace through diplomacy, mutual respect, and sustained communication. The evolving security shifts calls for cooperative engagement. Maintaining a balance of peace and stability is therefore of utmost importance.

Impacts on Developing Economies

The rise in global temperatures, green energy transition, disrupted supply chains, and funding cuts are creating challenges for developing economies. These include increasing unemployment, poverty, hunger, and inequality, all of which threaten progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

South Asia and Global Shifts

South Asia and other regions face increasing uncertainty in an emerging world order contoured by tariff and trade tensions, geopolitical shifts, food insecurity and the retreat of traditional development partners like the USAID.

Amid rising uncertainties, food insecurity stands out as a major threat, placing nearly 300 million people in the region at risk (Sharma and Faridi 2024). Currently, fewer than 12% of national policies globally integrate climate, biodiversity, and nutrition considerations. Only 32% of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) include measures addressing food safety and nutrition, and very few Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commit to integrated actions that tackle both climate and nutrition challenges (WHO 2022). Despite Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) aiming to end hunger through resilient agricultural practices under Target 2.4, countries in the region — particularly Pakistan — continue to lag behind, with the country emerging as one of the most food-insecure nations.

These developments have exposed economic and climate vulnerabilities across many regions. To tackle these challenges, South Asia and other regions must enhance regional cooperation, build climate resilience, pursue growth strategies to adapt, and assert collective action on the global stage.

Aligning with Key Regional Forums

This year, alongside its 28^th annual edition, the SDC aligns with three other important local, regional and global forums shaping sustainable development conversations:

The 3^rd Sustainability Investment Expo (hereafter SI Expo)

·         The 3^rd Sustainability Investment Expo (hereafter SI Expo)

·         The 16^th South Asia Economic Summit (hereafter SAES)

·         The UNESCAP’s 9^th South and South-West Asia Forum on Sustainable Development

Conference Objectives and Key Questions: Exploring the New Normal

The Conference aims to explore sustainable development in the region amid the ‘new normal’ — shaped by geopolitical shifts following elections in 80 countries in 2024, a 1.5°C temperature rise, evolving development partnerships, new challenges and opportunities for economies and the reversal of globalization, among other factors. The SDC brings on the table some of the burning questions:

·         Has the global economic, technological and environmental cooperation peaked?

·         What are the possible scenarios – a steep decline, irrecoverable decline or is there any hope of reversals to the levels that characterized previous decades?

·         What are the implications of these likely scenarios – could this bring back the trends such as protectionist policies restricting the international trade, regionalisation of supply chains, and a world vison limited to national rather than global priorities?

Challenges and Opportunities

Geopolitical tensions, economic instability, climate breakdown, and the rapid evolution of AI are reshaping the foundations of sustainable development. These challenges simultaneously provide opportunities for sustainable development, demanding adaptive governance, inclusive policies, and innovative solutions. With only five years left to achieve the agenda 2030, the urgency to reimagine development pathways has never been greater.  

The SDC 2025 will explore the vital connections among these challenges as mentioned above. Additionally, the discussions and exchange of ideas will be organised around key themes, including but not limited to the fate of the global climate resilience efforts amid changing scenarios, possibilities of and policies for harnessing potential of AI, regional cooperation that extends beyond borders to include economic and environmental dimensions. The SDC also brings discussions on how to mitigate these risks and improve social, economic and environmental governance at the national, regional and governance levels.

Further, the focus on resilience is crucial because developing economies are facing extreme vulnerabilities, making resilience critical to grappling with climate change, trade wars, conflicts, supply chains, food and nutrition security, and funding, particularly for the health and development sectors. The theme allows us to hold meaningful discussions and explore adaptive responses and strategies, innovative solutions, public-private partnerships, and collaborative frameworks to address these evolving challenges driving sustainable and inclusive growth.

With a focus on practical solutions and policy recommendations, SDC 2025, South-West Asia Forum on Sustainable Development and SAES XVI aim to provide a space for multi-stakeholder engagement to rethink economic models, enhance institutional adaptability, and drive positive transformative change the region and the world needs.

In an era defined by uncertainty, the SDC of 2025 will serve as a call to action, one that not only identifies the risks ahead but also seizes emerging opportunities to build a future that is resilient, inclusive, and sustainable.

The Conference aims to strengthen partnerships, bridge gaps, and drive actionable solutions that transcend current challenges and lay the foundation for long-term progress.

Regions in Focus

The Conference will focus on the following regions in multiple sessions:

·         National and local challenges and opportunities – Addressing pressing national concerns and policy priorities.

·         Regional dynamics in the changing global landscape – Exploring geopolitical and economic shifts in South Asia and beyond.

·         Primary global transformations shaping the future – Examining worldwide major trends shaping the future.

Thematic Focus Across Key Sessions

While multiple sessions will feature cross-cutting themes, certain topics will be specifically addressed at each of the forums:

The SDC – Addressing the intersection of climate change and economic resilience.

The SAES – Exploring innovations and policies in the circular economy.

The SI Expo – Collaborations for a Climate Smart Future.

The South-West Asia Forum on Sustainable Development – Highlighting key social issues and pathways to sustainable solutions; good practices related to implementation of the SDGs and identify areas of regional cooperation for sustainable development.

Together, these platforms will broaden the SDC’s impact, making it a pivotal intersection point for cross-regional collaboration on sustainable development.

Call for Abstracts/Papers: 15 July 2025

Organizations, researchers, and speakers interested in participating in the 28^th SDC are invited to submit abstracts on a relevant sub-theme/panel that will be made available at https://sdpi.org/sdconference/. A regularly updated list of panels, along with authors’ guidelines, will be posted on the weblink provided.

Speakers are requested to: 

1.      Read the panel title, its focus, sub-theme, objectives, and the specific questions that the panel will address under the overarching theme of the SDC 2025.

2.      Submit an abstract of no more than 200 words, clearly mentioning the selected panel in the MS Word file. Include the panel title in the email subject line and send it to sdc@sdpi.org  along with the author's name and a 30-word bionote. 

3.      The Editorial Committee will review all submitted abstracts for originality. Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit draft papers (up to 5,000 words) and a PowerPoint presentation (maximum 10 slides) by 1 October 2025.

For details of the panels, authors’ guidelines, submission deadlines, etc., please continue to visit the SDC 2025 weblink: https://www.sdpi.org/sdc.

Queries related to the Sustainable Development Conference may be directed to sdc@sdpi.org.

References:

Sharma, P. and Faridi, S. (eds.) 2024, ‘Food Security in South Asia’, The Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore. [Accessed 22 May 2025].

WHO 2022, ‘Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN)’, World Health Organization:  Geneva, Switzerland, [Accessed 22 May 2025].