Excellencies,
Kuroiwa Yuji - san, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture;
Nemoto Kaoru – san, Director of the United Nations Information Centre;
Kanie Norichika - san, Chair of the Japan SDGs Action Promotion Council;
Ladies and gentlemen—those in Japan and those joining from around the world—I am very happy to greet you from New York.
And I am honored to take part in this important event on behalf of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The Japan SDGs Action Forum is a very important event, and one that comes at a critical moment for the planet and our human family. The United Nations and its Member States are working to address immediate emergencies—taking urgent actions to promote peace in Ukraine and working together to recover from the pandemic and make COVID-19 vaccines available to all.
At the same time, we cannot lose sight of the longer-term challenges that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were designed to address. We must simultaneously fight poverty, hunger, inequality, and the triple environmental crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. To overcome these challenges, the world needs to embrace the SDGs and take bold, transformative actions to achieve them. We cannot wait.
The SDGs are global goals, reflecting the international, cross-border nature of challenges in our interconnected world and our shared commitments to address them. But it is also clear that effective action must start at the local level.
The necessary actions will be led by a range of diverse actors, in communities, local governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector. Today’s forum is designed to hear from these actors, to learn from them and begin the process of bringing their lessons to the wider world.
I am delighted that we have with us local leaders, representatives of the vibrant Japanese private sector, young social entrepreneurs from Japan and India, and others forging dynamic partnerships for the SDGs. I know that you will all inspire us with examples of innovation and creative problem solving—bringing to life the promise to “think globally, act locally.”
Your stories and experiences will be especially valuable for the members of the Independent Group of Scientists who are here today. I know that we have scientists joining us from the Philippines, Canada, India and, of course, the chair of the event Professor Kanie. These scientists, appointed by the UN Secretary-General to write the next edition of the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), have a very important task—to strengthen the science-policy interface and bring evidence-based recommendations, good practices and strategies to light, to help accelerate progress on the SDGs.
The GSDR was requested by UN Member States as a tool to strengthen the ties between science and policy. Science—including natural science and social science—must have a central role in decision-making at all levels. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the importance of science for advancing human well-being and building resilience, including with the development of vaccines in record time, but we have also seen that not everyone has access to the fruits of science and trust in science is not consistent.
In preparing the GSDR, the Independent Group of Scientists bring their own expertise to the Report and are also seeking inputs from diverse voices from around the world. The Report will be rooted in evidence, and it will distill the conclusions and recommendations from the many assessments that the UN and its partners have produced. I am confident that it will be a valuable policy-making tool and a powerful reminder of the importance of a strong science-policy-society interface.
The Independent Group of Scientists will deliver their report in 2023—the half-way point for progress toward realizing the 2030 Agenda and also the year when a Summit of the Future will convene at the UN, as proposed by the Secretary General in his Common Agenda Report.
Member States have made it clear that the time for planning and talking is over and the time for action is here. Cases of successful SDG implementation are vital—as inspiration and as blueprints for others to follow. The dialogues in the program today will feature concrete examples and so will contribute greatly to the work of the Independent Group of Scientists and to delivering on our shared commitments to sustainable development.
So, thank you to all participants for joining in this crucial dialogue. I look forward to hearing your insights and to seeing them reflected in the Global Sustainable Development Report. The Member States of the United Nations and the wider global community have much to learn from your knowledge and experiences.
Thank you for your attention.