Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the SDSN, Mr. Guido Schmidt-Traub, Executive Director of the SDSN, Co-Chairs of the Leadership Council of the SDSN, Professors Laurence Tubiana and Lan Xue, Distinguished members of the SDSN Leadership Council, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to address the distinguished Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Since its creation in 2012, the SDSN has helped shape the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by bringing together remarkable minds to look for solutions for some of the world’s most pressing environmental, social and economic problems.

Your commitment to work with the private sector, civil society, UN agencies and other international organizations has been vital to identifying and sharing the best pathways to achieve sustainable development.

The series of reports and documents produced by the SDSN have reflected  deep knowledge of key topics such as climate change, data and financing for sustainable development.   Your suggestions have provided critical inputs to the deliberations on the new agenda.

As we now move to implement the new goals, the SDSN will continue to be of great value in accelerating joint learning and promoting collaboration in and across countries to find solutions to common problems and learn from each other’s experiences.

I will count on you to provide independent, global, open and inclusive proposals to support problem-solving in the implementation of the SDGs at the local, national and global levels.

Thank you again for being part of this historic process.  Let us work together to bring meaningful change and set the world on a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable path.

Thank you.