The Royal Society has called for input from the global scientific community for the "Climate change: science and solutions" briefings in preparation for the United Nations Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. They will highlight the potential of research, development, and deployment for climate action in 12 critical areas. These briefings are based on the expertise of over 120 scientists from more than 20 countries, covering topics that will be key to 'net zero' greenhouse gas emissions. The effort recognizes that decarbonization and adaptation to climate change will require science-based solutions.

On May 22, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched Measuring Progress: Environment and the SDGs, detailing the 92 environment-related indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), analyzing the progress made in achieving the SDG targets and identifying data gaps. The statistical approach used simple correlation analyses between indicator pairs related to the state of the environment and drivers of change, and the state of the environment and the state of society, to improve understanding of the interlinkages between SDG indicators. It also emphasized the importance of data disaggregation and fully populated SDGs to understand environmental and socio-economic interactions, and opportunities using innovative data techniques to close data gaps. Prof. Guo Huadong, Director General of CBAS, and Prof. Paul Ekins, University College London co-chaired an Expert Group to guide the drafting.

May 22 marked the International Day for Biological Diversity. On May 21, the second International Tea Day, a thematic webinar "COP15: Road to Kunming, Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth" was convened. Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Zhang Jun, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, Mr. Volkan Bozkor, President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Munir Akram, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and Ms. Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), attended and addressed the webinar. Mr. Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, elaborated on the progress of preparations for the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15).

The sixth annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) was held from May 4 to 5, 2021. It was convened by the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), His Excellency Mr. Munir Akram, who appointed two co-chairs - H.E. Mr. Andrejs Pildegovičs, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations, and H.E. Ambassador Mohammad Koba, Charge d'Affaires of the Indonesia Mission to the United Nations. As per its mandate, the STI Forum is organized by the United Nations Interagency Task Team on SIT for the SDGs (IATT), convened by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the 10-Member Group to Support Technology Facilitation Mechanism, consisting of high-level representatives appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General.

Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (2020) was released on September 26, 2020, by the Chinese government at the "Poverty Eradication and South-South Cooperation" High-level Video Conference, on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Drafted by the Big Earth Data Science Engineering Program (CASEarth) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the report showcases China's efforts to implement Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in particular, the prospect of utilizing Big Earth Data for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday announced that China will set up an International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals to facilitate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.