On September 6, the 5th International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development opened in Beijing. The event was led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), jointly organized by the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development (CBAS) and the Aerospace Information Research Institute of CAS, and supported by multiple institutions including the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Distinguished speakers at the opening ceremony included:
- He Hongping, Vice President and Member of the CAS Party Group
- Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General
- Liu Zhenmin, Special Envoy for Climate Change of China
- Bai Chunli, Founding Chairman of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO)
- Danilo Türk, Former President of Slovenia and President of the World Leadership Alliance
- Dai Gang, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology
- Lidia Brito, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences at UNESCO
- Li Lifeng, Director of the Land and Water Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Keynote speeches were delivered by:
- Csaba Korosi, President of the 77th UN General Assembly
- Guo Huadong, Director of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Center
- Quarraisha Abdool Karim, President of the World Academy of Sciences

CBAS Fellows were awarded to:
- Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Honorary Chair and Distinguished Fellow of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI),  and Former President of Mauritius
- Johannes Cullmann, Scientific Advisor to the President of the 77th UN General Assembly
- Ibrahim Thiaw, Former Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
- Danilo Türk, Former President of Slovenia
- Wang Jian, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Director of the Zhejiang Lab, and Founder of Alibaba Cloud