Dr. Wei Liu is the Coordinator of the UN Inter-agency Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals, UN DESA from 2016 to present. In his role, Dr. Liu provides both substantive and organizational support to the implementation of the science, technology and innovation (STI)-related decisions contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and other related global processes. He has also developed effective partnerships with main partners in the STI field, such as the European Commission Joint Research Center, MoST China, JRC Japan, and the World Bank. Dr. Liu joined the United Nations in 2005 through the National Competitive Exam (NCE). He has mainly worked in the development policy sector and contributed to various United Nations publications, including the Global Sustainable Development Report, guidebooks, operational notes, and policy briefs of the Technology Facilitation Mechanisms. He also prepares briefing notes, talking points, speeches for UN senior staff, and makes presentations on international conferences.

Dr. Liu’s research areas encompass from STI policy and roadmaps, AI strategies, green economy and trade, technology solutions for the SDGs, financing for a green economy transition, inequality, post 2015 development agenda, and trade finance and aid in the context of global financial crisis, to food security and sustainable agriculture. Working in the Rio+20 Secretariat, he was extensively involved in the United Nations Rio+20 process for sustainable development and provided technical support on green economy, trade, and finance related issues for the Rio+20 negotiations. Before that, Dr. Liu worked as an Associated Economic Affairs Officer in the Trade and Investment Division, UN-ESCAP, Bangkok, Thailand, and as a Research Fellow in a World Bank project at the University of Birmingham, the UK. He holds a MSc in Money, Banking and Finance, and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Birmingham.