Distinguished Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand,
Excellencies,
Madame Executive Secretary,
Dear Participants,
I am pleased to address the opening of the tenth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development.
From the Central Asian Republics in the West to the Pacific islands in the East, Asia-Pacific is the most expansive and populous region of the world, representing a diverse group of countries, each with a unique setting. The Asia-Pacific region is home to many of the great breakthroughs and milestones that have marked global development progress. What happens in this vast region in the coming years is critical to the global implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Our collective efforts to achieve the SDGs have been challenged by today’s global cascading crises. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been further compounded by conflict-driven crises in food, energy and financing and the ongoing climate catastrophe. The Asia-Pacific region is not immune from these crises.
ESCAP’s own research has shown that the region’s nascent recovery has been uneven across sectors, and that while we need to safeguard and accelerate this recovery, we also need to make it more inclusive[1]
The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, launched since 2015, have given us the blueprint to sustainability and resilience. We must remain committed to that blueprint. To fulfil our commitments, we cannot be doing business as usual.
All signs point to this reality.
The advanced version of the Global Sustainable Development Report, crafted by the Independent Group of Scientists, will soon be made available to Member States. The report makes clear that we can only achieve the SDGs through interlinked approaches. The report calls for deliberate and dynamic interaction between science, business and government, so that we can accelerate the implementation of action on the 2030 Agenda.
The recently concluded UN Water Conference also called for more effectively integrated efforts at SDG implementation, imploring governments to seek out policy synergies, address and avoid negative spillovers, whether cross-sectoral or transboundary, and commit to transformative actions. Over 700 commitments, by all stakeholders, to advance and accelerate water action emerged from that Conference.
It is true that progress has been slowing, but commitments are growing, which will inject more dynamics for the SDG Summit.
We have to take this energy into September when global leaders gather at the SDG Summit. The resounding message of urgency and hope that filled the General Assembly Hall last week during the UN Water Conference, will be twice as loud as UN Member States reaffirm their commitment to the 2030 Agenda.
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The SDG Summit, a centre- piece for the whole United Nations system in 2023, comes at a critical juncture. Now, at the halfway point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda, we are far off track in our implementation.
The SDG Summit must be a rallying cry to the entire world to turn from crisis to development, by taking ambitious actions needed to realize a more peaceful, inclusive and greener future.
Resources will need to be scaled up towards the 2030 Agenda. That is why the Secretary-General is calling on Members States to support his SDG Stimulus Plan. It aims to offset the debt distress and financial constraints faced by developing countries, especially the most vulnerable countries, and revive global partnerships to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
And we also need to ensure that the international financial architecture is better aligned with the SDGs and geared towards leaving no one behind. We must be equipped to provide more resources to developing countries for addressing concurrent crises and attracting long-term investment. This will require fundamental reforms of the global financial architecture. Let’s advance the reform agenda together.
Like the Secretary-General, I am hopeful that Member States will take the opportunity to make the SDG Summit a pivotal event, where world leaders can deliver political commitments, demonstrate transformative ambition, and reinvigorate multilateralism in a spirit of global solidarity.
The tenth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development is a key platform for driving action forward. I am confident that the members of ESCAP will help lead in making the SDG Summit a breakthrough moment to build a better world.
I wish you all a very successful Forum.
Thank you.