Delivering as One, a UN in China conversation presented by Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee: Episode 20 with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University

In the twentieth episode of the UN in China podcast, UN Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee sits down with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. 

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economist, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development. He is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including the escape from extreme poverty, the global battle against human-induced climate change, international debt and financial crises, national economic reforms, and the control of pandemic and epidemic diseases. 

Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he holds the rank of University Professor, the university’s highest academic rank. Sachs was Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Co-Chair of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition, academician of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican, Commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Honorary Distinguished Professor at Sunway University, and SDG Advocate for UN Secretary General António Guterres. From 2001-18, Sachs served as Special Advisor to UN Secretaries General Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban Ki-moon (2008-16), and António Guterres (2017-18). 

Sachs has authored and edited numerous books, including three New York Times bestsellers: The End of Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011). Other books include To Move the World: JFK’s Quest for Peace (2013), The Age of Sustainable Development (2015), Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair & Sustainable (2017), A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2018), The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020), and most recently, Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development (2022). 

Sachs is the 2022 recipient of the Tang Prize in Sustainable Development and was the co recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership. He was twice named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. Sachs has received 42 honorary doctorates, and his recent awards include the 2022 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, the Legion of Honor by decree of the President of the Republic of France, and the Order of the Cross from the President of Estonia. 

Prior to joining Columbia, Sachs spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University, most recently as the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard.

"We have a very serious challenge of holding the world together, holding multilateralism together, and making the United Nations work. We depend on the UN for our survival. We depend on the UN for our well-being."

In this episode, Professor Sachs joins UN Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee for a far-reaching conversation on sustainable development, global cooperation, and the transformative power of practical policy solutions. A renowned economist and UN advisor, Sachs reflects on his decades of work, from ending hyperinflation in Bolivia to shaping global health initiatives like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. He emphasizes the importance of "clinical economics": an approach modeled after medicine that tailors economic solutions to the specific context of each crisis. Sachs recounts how seemingly impossible interventions, such as free bed net distribution or widespread access to antiretroviral therapy, ultimately saved millions of lives due to leadership, persistence, and creative financing.

In this conversation, the two discuss the current “polycrisis” facing the world: rising inequality, environmental catastrophe, and weakening multilateralism. Despite progress, Sachs warns that the world is far behind on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with implementation hovering at only 17%. Yet, he remains optimistic. The SDGs, he argues, are not abstract ideals but practical and achievable targets that enjoy global consensus. What’s missing, he says, is not solutions, but high-level political will and sufficient financing. Sachs advocates for international taxation on aviation, shipping, and carbon to fund the UN and accelerate global progress.

Together with the UN, Sachs envisions a revitalized multilateral system capable of tackling today’s challenges head-on. He praises China's leadership in renewable technologies—solar, wind, EVs—and highlights how initiatives like the Belt and Road can be harnessed to share these innovations globally, particularly in Africa. Sachs sees transformative potential in digital and AI-driven tools for health, education, and financial inclusion, provided they are deployed ethically and equitably. He warns, however, of the risks, including surveillance, misinformation, and inequality, and insists that only global cooperation, led by a robust UN, can manage these threats. Sachs calls for a 21st-century upgrade to the UN, highlighting empowerment of a collective entity to take decisive, well-funded action.

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Siddharth Chatterjee

Siddharth Chatterjee took office as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China on 16 January 2021 and is the designated representative of - and reports to - the UN Secretary-General. He presented his letter of credence to the President of China on 14 April 2021.

Mr. Chatterjee has more than 25 years of experience in international cooperation, sustainable development, humanitarian coordination and peace and security in the United Nations and the Red Cross movement. He has served in many fragile and war-torn countries all over the world.

A 3 times TEDx speaker, he is a regular opinion contributor on humanitarian and development issues for a range of journals which includes Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Huffington Post, Forbes, CNN, Al Jazeera, the Guardian and as of late has also published in mainstream Chinese journals.

Mr. Chatterjee holds a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University in the United States of America.

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey D. Sachs is University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed the Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Co-Chair of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition, Commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development, academician of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican, and Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Honorary Distinguished Professor at Sunway University. 

He has been Special Advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General, and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary General António Guterres. He spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University, where he received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Sachs has received 42 honorary doctorates, and his recent awards include the 2022 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, the Legion of Honor by decree of the President of the Republic of France, and the Order of the Cross from the President of Estonia. 

His most recent books are The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020) and Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development (2022).