SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure explained

Feb 9, 2025

By Gaia Education

Under Articles & English

17 min read

SDG post #9 - SDG 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

Hi #sustainability champions, today we continue our journey exploring the individual SDGs one by one to polish our knowledge and upskill in SDG learning. As mentioned before we send out a post approximately once or twice weekly until we have gone through all 17 SDGs. Today we tackle SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

You can follow or connect with us and see what we have to offer related to upscaling your change maker abilities (of tools and training) on our SDG toolkit webpages. ✔So let’s explore Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9), also known as "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure" in a concise manner suitable for learning.

What is SDG 9 about?

Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9) is a global commitment to "build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation". It covers a substantial and diverse variety of topics such as supporting inclusive industrial diversification, fostering innovation, building resilient and sustainable infrastructure, supporting sustainable industrialisation, supporting small and medium sized businesses to access markets, increasing spending for research & development, and more.

Why does SDG 9 matter?

A functioning and resilient as well as sustainable infrastructure is the foundation of every successful community. To meet current and future challenges, our industries, communities and infrastructure must be sustainably developed and often upgraded. For this, we need to promote innovative sustainable technologies and solutions and ensure equal and universal access to research, information and financial markets. This should be the basis for prosperity for all, create employment and make sure that we build stable, resilient, sustainable and prosperous societies across the globe, as is encompassed in SDG 9, but it is also seen as a cross-cutting topic, underlying many other goals as well and intertwined with many targets across the 2030 Agenda.

From eradication of poverty (SDG 1), end hunger (SDG 2), provision of good health and well-being (SDG 3), quality education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5), water and sanitation (SDG 6), access to clean energy (SDG 7), decent work (SDG 8), but also sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12) and climate change (SDG 13) and others, it connects with most if not all SDGs in a direct or indirect manner, hence the type and way of infrastructure, industrial development and innovation in both developed and developing countries alike is critically important to achieve the SDGs and its targets, be it for the environment, for society and economy.

The importance of SDG 9 can also be put in a different way. A few years ago a statistic stated that 75% of the infrastructure that will exist in 2050 doesn’t exist today (Nextcity.org). That stat was released back in 2014 so it’s not 100% accurate today but it does shows the magnitude of just how much infrastructure will be constructed and invested in in the coming decades - the Global Infrastructure Hub estimates somewhere around $94 trillion by 2040. That is why it is so crucial that we consider infrastructure, industry and innovation when we talk about sustainable development.

Constructing new greener infrastructures, retrofitting or reconfiguring existing infrastructure systems and exploiting the potential of smart technologies can greatly contribute to the reduction of environmental impacts and disaster risks as well as the construction of resilience and the increase of efficiency in the use of natural resources.

Sustained and inclusive industrial and commercial development is a prerequisite for sustainable development and vice versa, which can contribute to improved livelihoods for people around the world. Sustainable and resilient infrastructure can lead to new and better employment opportunities and provide greater economic security for all. Moreover, innovation and increased research and development, especially among the least developed and developing countries, can help them to provide basic to advanced infrastructure and services relative to developed countries, thereby diminishing glaring inequalities between the rich and poor.

Since 2015, global manufacturing employment has fluctuated. Starting at 14.3% in 2015, it dipped to 14.2% in 2020 but saw a marginal recovery in 2021. However, by 2022, it declined to 14.1%, with notable regional disparities. While sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia saw slight increases, other regions experienced declines, with Australia and New Zealand recording the highest fall of 0.5 percentage points from 2021 to 2022. These trends highlight the ongoing impact of crises on manufacturing employment growth.
Small enterprises face heightened vulnerability, particularly in low income countries. According to survey data spanning from 2006 to 2023, only 16.9% of small-scale manufacturing industries in sub-Saharan Africa had access to loans or lines of credit, compared to 45.4% in Latin America and the Caribbean. This underscores how global uncertainty hampers investment flow and financial access for small businesses, hindering their resilience and adoption of new technologies.
Globally, CO2 emissions per unit of GDP have steadily declined by 11.5% from 2015 to 2021, with a reduction of 16% observed in the manufacturing sector. Despite these positive trends, global CO2 emissions from fuel combustion hit a record high of 33.6 gigatonnes in 2021, with manufacturing emissions also reaching their highest level since 2014 at 6.1 gigatonnes. These figures highlight the insufficient rate of reduction in CO2 emissions intensity to achieve a significant overall decrease in worldwide CO2 emissions. At the same time, fossil fuel subsidies still reach around 5.6 trillion dollars per year, which amounts to approximately 7% of the global GDP and is therefore much higher than the overall financial support for the global health sector.
After a slowdown in 2020, global research and development (R&D) expenditure appeared to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, climbing from 1.72% of GDP in 2015 to 1.93% in 2021. However, many developing economies have R&D expenditure relative to GDP below 1%. The number of researchers per million inhabitants globally increased from 1,143 in 2015 to 1,352 in 2021, with Europe and Northern America, and Australia and New Zealand employing three times higher than the global level (i.e. 4,050 and 4,696 respectively in 2021). On the other hand, sub-Saharan Africa has been substantially lower, standing at 96 researchers per million inhabitants. Additionally, women remain underrepresented, comprising only 31.5% of all researchers worldwide in 2021.
The gradual upward trend of medium and high-tech manufacturing value added in total value added, rising from 46.3% in 2015 to 46.9% in 2019, was briefly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, dropping to 46.8%. Despite uncertainties and economic challenges, the sector displayed resilience with a slight decline of 0.67 percentage points in 2021. In Eastern and South Eastern Asia, this sector accounted for approximately 50.6% of total manufacturing in 2021, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa, it represented just 18.3%.
Mobile broadband (3G or higher) is accessible to 95% of the world's population, up from 78% in 2015. In most developing countries, this type of access is the main way – and often the only way – to connect to the Internet. However, addressing the remaining 5% coverage gap poses challenges. Notably, in Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), the gap remains significant at 31%. Although the gap in sub-Saharan Africa is shrinking, it still stands relatively high at 17%, particularly impacting central and western Africa.

Key targets and indicators

SDG 9 is defined by 8 targets, which are measured by 12 indicators, which makes SDG 9 by its focus a major SDG to tackle, ensuring progress can be tracked and goals can be met, that look at all dimensions of infrastructure, industry and innovation for all which explores a variety of topics related to supporting sustainable development. This includes how to support sustainable and resilient infrastructure, diversified and sustainable industrial & commercial development, foster innovation, robust and fair R&D, support of SMEs and more . The main targets summarised include (if you want to know the exact wording in the Agenda 2030 you should have a look here):

develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure accessible for all
promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization everywhere
increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises to finances and market
upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and use of clean technologies
enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries
support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries
significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet everywhere

Challenges & Progress:

Progress towards SDG 9 still faces challenges as since 2022 the manufacturing sector has faced stagnation, attributed to geopolitical instability, inflation, logistical challenges, rising energy costs, and a broader global economic slowdown. Globally, manufacturing's share in employment has regressed. While there has been progress in reducing CO2 intensity in manufacturing, it falls way short of 2030 target values. To expedite progress towards SDG 9, efforts should prioritise accelerating the green transition, strategically prioritizing sectors, and addressing inequalities in digital and innovation sectors.

‘It's the spirit of innovation, of risk taking and courage, which we today need more than ever in our human world’ Ravi Gurumurthy, International Rescue Committee.

Accelerating progress demands a concerted effort to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and general economic development, foster innovation through increased investment in research and development, accelerating the green transition, strategically prioritising sectors, and addressing inequalities in digital and innovation sectors, but also to ensure equal and universal access to information and financial markets will be essential to achieve this goal.

Overall the latest UN SDG progress report on SDG 9 shows variable progress from regression (domestic technology development), stagnation (sustainable/inclusive industrialisation), marginal progress (infrastructure development), to moderate progress (sustainable industries and support for infrastructure), but also a couple of targets on track (i.e. on R&D and access to ICT and internet) but overall way off track with enormous regional differences and hugely significant acceleration is required on most of SDG 9 targets. Since 2022, manufacturing sector growth has plateaued at around 2.7 per cent, a level expected to persist into 2024 due to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions. The medium- and high-tech sector maintained its manufacturing value added share at around 46 per cent in 2021. The air transport industry is rebounding strongly. Small enterprises continue to face hurdles such as limited access to credit, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and the LDCs; only around 17 per cent has access to loans or credit lines. Despite reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions intensity, global emissions have hit a record high. The mobile broadband coverage gap persists at 5 per cent.

If you would like to know more about where your country currently stands with SDG 9 (and all other SDGs), you can check out the latest Sustainable Development Report - Country Profiles (as well as Rankings, Interactive Maps and a Data Explorer), and additional visual presentations available on Our World in Data.

In 2022, 3.5 billion people still lacked basic sanitation, 2.4 billion had no access to phone services, and close to 1 billion had no reliable electricity supply. A quality infrastructure is a prerequisite for achieving social, economic and ecological goals. While 95% of people in developing countries were covered by mobile-cellular signals, only 50% of the rural population have access to reliable internet connections, which drops to only around 20% in least developed countries.
In 2021, developed countries were able to invest up to 8x as much money in research, innovation and development than developing countries. Knowledge and technology transfer is important, yet building local and regional capacity to create appropriate whole systems design solutions adapted to the bio-cultural uniqueness of a place promises a more equitable path to sustainable development.

How to achieve building industry, innovation and infrastructure for all?

Like any other SDG, also SDG 9 would require a multifaceted and multi-dimensional approach, but in general SDG 9 is one of the complex and tightly interconnected (with other) SDGs to tackle. Some of the more higher level (and often global to national) aspects of achieving SDG 9 could possibly include in summary (but not be limited to) something like the following, which aim to create a holistic approach to sustainable industrialisation and innovation, ensuring economic development while protecting the environment and promoting social equity.

Investment in Sustainable Infrastructure: Governments should allocate public and private investments towards green infrastructure projects. This includes renewable energy systems, water and sanitation systems, sustainable transportation networks, and climate-resilient buildings as well as ITC. Policies could include tax incentives for sustainable projects and public-public partnerships to fund infrastructure development.
Support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Implement programs that provide financial support, technical assistance, and access to markets for SMEs, especially in and within developing regions. This could involve establishing innovation hubs, offering microloans, tax incentives, and reducing bureaucratic barriers to encourage entrepreneurship.
Research and Development (R&D) Funding: Increase public funding for R&D in sustainable technologies and industries. This could be complemented by creating innovation grants and tax credits for companies but also consumers investing in green technologies, fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability. Developing countries should get substantial support from developed countries to overcome the R&D gaps (e.g. in form of grants or no-interest loans).
Promotion of Circular Economy Practices: Develop policies that encourage circular economy practices, such as circular design, repairs, remanufacture, waste reduction, recycling, and resource efficiency. This could include regulatory frameworks that incentivize but also mandate sustainable product design and end-of-life management, new business models (e.g. sharing economy) as well as educational programs to raise awareness among businesses and consumers.
Digital Infrastructure Development: Invest in digital infrastructure to support smart industries and enhance connectivity. Policies should focus on expanding internet access in underserved areas, promoting digital skills training, and supporting the development of technologies that drive industrial efficiency.
Strengthening Regulatory Frameworks: Establish and enforce regulations that promote sustainable industrial practices, including emissions standards, resources and waste management, and labor rights. This could involve creating incentives for industries that adopt sustainable practices and ensuring compliance through transparent monitoring systems.

Many developing countries still have limited basic infrastructure (communication technology, roads, sanitation, electricity, water/sanitation systems, etc.). Small and medium sized enterprises are crucial in providing local and regional infrastructures. Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) per capita in 2015 was almost 50x as high in developed countries, showing that this is a huge untapped local manufacturing potential in less developed countries.

Sustainable, regenerative agriculture and ecosystem regeneration, along with growing resources for regional bio-economics offer ecological and economic win-win opportunities for developed, emerging and developing economies. Globally the carbon emissions per unit of value added have reduced by 30% between 2000 and 2022.

Instead of putting too much emphasis on generic larger scale ‘solutions’, which are likely somewhat removed from the realities and contexts of many local communities wherever they are. And because the supported approach by Gaia Education for regenerative design and development, is about the context specific potential of each and every place and community. Hence, we want to support the life affirming or life regenerating local to bioregional conversations and co-creative processes which should be a starting point of whole systems based realisation of SDG 9 and all strongly linked and all other SDG systemically together. From this we provide some useful questions to ask yourself or a group you work with locally or regionally in relation to SDG 9 (sourced from the Gaia Education SDG Flashcards) in a multidimensional manner in the social, ecological, economic and worldview/cultural dimensions..

The Gaia Education SDG Flashcards can provide you with some ideas on how one can possibly work with the SDGs in different (not top down but bottom up) and generative approaches. They contain more than 200 questions on the system-wide approach to achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The cards enable a participatory and problem-centric group conversation and solutions oriented multi-perspectival dialogue. They invite participants to engage and to collaborate to identify actions and solutions to implement the SDGs in ways that are relevant to their lives and communities, locally. This is an effective way to establish local to bioregional community ownership and realisation for the UN SDGs.

The SDG Flashcards are used in the SDG Training of Multipliers. Check out the freely downloadable SDG Training of Multipliers Handbook for a detailed description of how to prepare, promote, and how to use these cards more easily to promote community activist training, in various settings (e.g. local public bodies, communities, schools, universities, business etc.) as well as many other tools from our SDG webpages.

There are of course many examples of working on SDG 9 and industry, innovation and infrastructure, sometimes also in a systemic way (Post 0).

Gaia Education is involved in educational and training offerings which support the implementation of the SDGs including SDG 9, but is also part of projects and initiatives where at least one, mostly several SDGs are targeted. Examples of training or project involvement with some focus on SDG 9 in a wider sense are:

Design for Resilience (online course)

Supporting individuals and communities through deep adaptation and emergency preparedness.

The world as a whole is living through many crises: climate change, ecosystem degradation, war, social inequality, supply chain disruption and resource depletion, to name just a few. Communities are seeing more wildfires, heatwaves, unusual storms, floods and pandemics. The weight of mass migrations is an extra burden for communities and local systems often already stretching their boundaries. While many governments and NGOs have plans to respond to punctual disasters and disruptions, they often only focus on getting things back to normal as quickly as possible, and lack a longer term plan for resilience and regeneration, or prevention of recurrence.

The course uses a whole systems approach, incorporating interdisciplinary tools (resilience science and practice, Art of Hosting, Theory of U, Transformational Resilience, Permaculture and the practical tools from disaster management and emergency preparedness).

Using the VUCA context tool (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) it guides participants to map their household and community and support them on designing integrated and resilient systems, from inner to physical.

This is a hands-on, very practical and fun course where one will come up with a realistic plan for self, family and community.

4D Regenerative Design Literacy (online course),

Exploration of place-sourced regenerative design supported by Gaia Education's 4D curriculum. It is about unlocking the potential within Gaia Education's holistic approach to regenerative design. Daniel Christian Wahl guides through a 6-webinar series, delving into the revolutionary 4D design mandala. Exploring the intricate interplay between sustainability pillars and regenerative design dimensions, gaining insights into the realms of social, ecological, and economic regeneration.

It unveils the synergy, potential and power between the 'Ecovillage Design Education' (EDE) and 'Design for Sustainability and Regeneration' (GEDS) programs. With nearly two decades of experience, these courses have empowered individuals globally to actively contribute to the regeneration of their communities and bioregions.

It is for community activists, socio-ecological entrepreneurs, design educators, public servants, facilitators, consultants, or leaders in a large company, this mini-series offers a wealth of insights on regenerative design and development for communities and bioregions alike. It caters to both newcomers and graduates of Gaia Education's programs, providing a standalone learning journey into regenerative design literacy.

Systems Thinking for Real-World Change (online course)

What do we really mean when we talk about “systemic” problems or say “the system is broken”? We may be familiar with “systems thinking,” but what does it look like in action? Living in a linear and highly cartesian world, we tend to throw around these words and concepts, but do we really know what it means to apply them?

The course helps to find simple ways of referencing the “systems” level of reality throughout your daily life and work life. It explores both tangible, in-the-box methods, and a touch of the spiritual. As a student participant, you will find yourself immersed in dramatic news events, somewhat dry academic models, heart-rending personal stories, and spirituality.

It's about learning frameworks for contextualising the overwhelming plethora of systems methods and models, as well as frameworks for looking at your own work and where to go next for continued, in-depth systems training.

How does your local community's innovation and infrastructure SDG project look like?

Again, let’s take our future into our own hands, and start your SDG journey and locally to bioregionally based community project now!

And to close if you would like to learn much more about SDG 9 and all other SDGs and the Agenda 2030 and many more topics, approaches and methods to practically work with the SDG in your local to bioregional context we encourage you to start or re-invigorate your personal SDG journey through the upcoming online SDGs Multipliers course, starting on 17th February 2025.

Join the Multipliers course!

For more and the video affine the SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - UN Sustainable Development Goals - DEEP DIVE

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