2023-04-27 11:20:33
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged countries around the world to recommit to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
“More than half of the world’s population is being left behind halfway to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” Mr. Guterres said on the occasion of the publication of the Report on the progress on the SDGs, noting that the collective promise made in 2015 of a greener, just and equitable global future, is in jeopardy.
“If we don’t act now, the 2030 Agenda will become the epitaph of a world that might have been,” he said.
The report reveals that only 12% of the 169 SDG targets are on track, while progress on 50% of them is weak and insufficient. Worst of all, he said, is the fact that progress has stalled or even reversed on more than 30% of the goals.
The 17 SDGs are in a sorry state due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating “triple crisis” of climate, biodiversity and pollution, amplified by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, noted the head of l’ON.
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As a result, the number of people living in extreme poverty is higher than four years ago. Hunger has also increased and is now back to 2005 levels, and gender equality will only be achieved in regarding 300 years, he said, adding that other fallouts include record inequality and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
The UN SG also observed that many developing countries cannot invest in the SDGs due to heavy debt, while climate finance is well below commitments. Wealthier nations have yet to honor the $100 billion in support pledged each year, he said, among other climate pledges.
“The 2030 Agenda is an agenda for justice and equality, inclusive and sustainable development, human rights and dignity for all. This requires fundamental changes in the way the global economy is organised,” he said.
Mr. Guterres further called for an SDG stimulus package of at least $500 billion per year and deep reforms of the international financial architecture, two key recommendations of the report. This plan aims to increase affordable long-term financing for all countries in need, tackle debt and expand emergency financing – all areas that need action, he said.
While these measures may help reverse the situation, he stressed that they will not solve the fundamental problem of the current unfair and dysfunctional global financial system, which will require deep reforms.
Reiterating his call for “a new Bretton Woods moment” – when the first negotiated international monetary rules were established in 1944, including the International Monetary Fund, the senior UN official stressed that developing countries must be better represented in the institutions global financials.
Referring to the SDG summit scheduled for next September in New York, Mr. Guterres said that this conclave, which will bring together world leaders, will be a moment of truth and hope to relaunch a new dynamic to achieve these goals.
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