Your Excellency Ambassador Arenales, Chairman of the Second Committee,Excellencies,Distinguished Delegates,Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to welcome you all to this meeting of the Second Committee. I congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, and other Members of the Bureau, on your election.
I also wish to thank Ambassador Sven Jürgenson, Permanent Representative of Estonia, and Members of the previous Bureau who so ably led this Committee during the 72nd Session of the General Assembly.
As we embark on this year’s Second Committee, our focus is clear – to translate the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into a reality.
Three years in, we have already come quite a long way. There is a continuing strong momentum for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
A good indicator is the number of countries who volunteer to conduct national reviews at the High-level Political Forum. There were 46 last July. And next July there will be 51, ten of them are coming for the second time.
Countries have been adapting the targets and aligning their policies and plans with the 2030 Agenda. They have been organizing and mobilizing their institutions and engaging civil society. Some are rallying local governments and reporting to parliaments on the SDGs. Businesses are making commitments. Some cities, such as our host city, have conducted voluntary reviews of their SDG implementation.
Yet, progress is still too slow and uneven. This Committee will reflect on how we can accelerate progress through the various sectoral or other policy issues on its agenda.
Distinguished Delegates,
We are implementing the 2030 Agenda in a changing global environment. On the one hand, the global economy showed increased strength over the course of 2017. The United Nations projects steady global economic growth of at least 3 per cent per annum for the next few years.
On the other hand, global trade tensions continue to escalate. While the direct impact on trade flows remains limited, world trade growth has started to moderate. It has eased to about 4 per cent in 2018 after expanding by more than 5 per cent in 2017.
A prolonged episode of uncertainty in the global trade arena has the potential to severely impact business and consumer confidence, asset prices, and investment behaviour. This can lead to a sharp slowdown in economic activity. The spiral of protectionist and retaliatory measures poses setbacks to the multilateral trading system, as well as to multilateralism more broadly.
Also, financial vulnerabilities have been rising in many developing countries. This is exposing them to exchange rate pressures, increased financial volatility or sudden capital withdrawal. Notably, countries with marked vulnerabilities such as fragile GDP growth, elevated political uncertainty, or large current account and fiscal deficits, have become more susceptible to financial volatility. They are at greater risk of contagion from external shocks.
In a number of countries, the undercurrent of geopolitical tensions also has the potential to severely disrupt economic activity. Climate risks cloud the outlook in weather-sensitive regions, especially small island developing States.
Distinguished Delegates,
The ongoing rise in economic risks makes it all the more imperative that policy makers build resilience in advance of any forthcoming economic shocks. We need to bolster the resilience of our economies and societies while improving the lives of the people who are most vulnerable.
Distinguished Delegates,
We are now observing the following trends:• the decline in poverty rates has slowed.• Global hunger has been on the rise over the past three years, returning to levels seen a decade ago.• The number of conflicts rose again in 2017, continuing the negative trend from recent years.
These issues, just like the 2030 Agenda itself, are interlinked. Poverty can be associated with an increased likelihood of conflict, while instability, violence and conflict impede sustainable development.
The solutions are also interlinked. The effective way to prevent societies from descending into crisis – including but not limited to conflicts – is to strengthen their resilience through investments in inclusive and sustainable development. Indeed, solutions will always differ depending on the context. But I am confident that we have within our reach interlinked solutions for reaching our shared objectives within the prescribed timeframe.
As you know, and as highlighted in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, achieving the SDGs will require financial stability and sustainability.
The Secretary-General has recently launched his strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda. This strategy lays out actions the UN will take to accelerate resource mobilization for the SDGs.
The Financing strategy also relates to the implementation of the recent General Assembly resolution on the repositioning of the UN development system. It gives practical meaning to our resolve to advance the 2030 Agenda and to leave no one behind.
It will be critical that Member States remain engaged with the repositioning process as it unfolds. The Operational Activities Segment of ECOSOC will be an important forum to receive further guidance from Member States in early 2019.
The Second Committee will also be briefed on the System-wide Plan of Action which the UN system developed to implement the 3rd Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.
Distinguished Delegates,
This Committee has to bear in mind the trends that are shaping the world of tomorrow including diminishing rates of population growth, population ageing, urbanization and international migration. All these challenges need to be at the core of our planning for sustainable development.
In the coming week, you will reflect on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, to be adopted at an intergovernmental conference in Marrakesh in December 2018. The Compact agrees to repurpose the high-level dialogue process into the International Migration Review Forum. DESA is fully committed to support the development and review of such a programme.
Our common future is also being shaped at amazing speed by a technological revolution that is transforming our lives. Our collective ambition for realizing the 2030 Agenda now critically hinges on how we manage to harness these new frontier technologies and make them a force for good, while addressing the new divides that can come with them. This is also on your agenda.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2019 will be an important year, as the High-level Political Forum will convene both under the auspices of the ECOSOC in July and under the auspices of the General Assembly at the Summit-level in September. Heads of State and Government will review how far we have come in realizing the SDGs, and discuss actions for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
We should use this Summit of the HLPF to reaffirm our shared commitment to realize the SDGs by 2030, and pledge to step up our efforts in areas where we are lagging behind. We need to decide the process of the next cycle of the HLPF. We need to review the progress of the implementation of 17 SDGs in the first 4 years and more importantly, we need to confront the gaps and challenges in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
The success of the Summit next September will be critical for our common future. Deliberations in this Committee will certainly help to build consensus on some of the key issues that may be addressed at the Summit.
Distinguished Delegates,
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides an integrated framework for revitalizing multilateralism. We have a solid foundation upon which to build.
My Department, UNDESA, serving as the HLPF secretariat, will work with all UN entities to provide strong support to this process. We count on your guidance.
I wish you a most productive 73rd session of the General Assembly and look forward to the outcomes.
Thank you for your kind attention.
I have the honour to welcome you all to this meeting of the Second Committee. I congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, and other Members of the Bureau, on your election.
I also wish to thank Ambassador Sven Jürgenson, Permanent Representative of Estonia, and Members of the previous Bureau who so ably led this Committee during the 72nd Session of the General Assembly.
As we embark on this year’s Second Committee, our focus is clear – to translate the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into a reality.
Three years in, we have already come quite a long way. There is a continuing strong momentum for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
A good indicator is the number of countries who volunteer to conduct national reviews at the High-level Political Forum. There were 46 last July. And next July there will be 51, ten of them are coming for the second time.
Countries have been adapting the targets and aligning their policies and plans with the 2030 Agenda. They have been organizing and mobilizing their institutions and engaging civil society. Some are rallying local governments and reporting to parliaments on the SDGs. Businesses are making commitments. Some cities, such as our host city, have conducted voluntary reviews of their SDG implementation.
Yet, progress is still too slow and uneven. This Committee will reflect on how we can accelerate progress through the various sectoral or other policy issues on its agenda.
Distinguished Delegates,
We are implementing the 2030 Agenda in a changing global environment. On the one hand, the global economy showed increased strength over the course of 2017. The United Nations projects steady global economic growth of at least 3 per cent per annum for the next few years.
On the other hand, global trade tensions continue to escalate. While the direct impact on trade flows remains limited, world trade growth has started to moderate. It has eased to about 4 per cent in 2018 after expanding by more than 5 per cent in 2017.
A prolonged episode of uncertainty in the global trade arena has the potential to severely impact business and consumer confidence, asset prices, and investment behaviour. This can lead to a sharp slowdown in economic activity. The spiral of protectionist and retaliatory measures poses setbacks to the multilateral trading system, as well as to multilateralism more broadly.
Also, financial vulnerabilities have been rising in many developing countries. This is exposing them to exchange rate pressures, increased financial volatility or sudden capital withdrawal. Notably, countries with marked vulnerabilities such as fragile GDP growth, elevated political uncertainty, or large current account and fiscal deficits, have become more susceptible to financial volatility. They are at greater risk of contagion from external shocks.
In a number of countries, the undercurrent of geopolitical tensions also has the potential to severely disrupt economic activity. Climate risks cloud the outlook in weather-sensitive regions, especially small island developing States.
Distinguished Delegates,
The ongoing rise in economic risks makes it all the more imperative that policy makers build resilience in advance of any forthcoming economic shocks. We need to bolster the resilience of our economies and societies while improving the lives of the people who are most vulnerable.
Distinguished Delegates,
We are now observing the following trends:• the decline in poverty rates has slowed.• Global hunger has been on the rise over the past three years, returning to levels seen a decade ago.• The number of conflicts rose again in 2017, continuing the negative trend from recent years.
These issues, just like the 2030 Agenda itself, are interlinked. Poverty can be associated with an increased likelihood of conflict, while instability, violence and conflict impede sustainable development.
The solutions are also interlinked. The effective way to prevent societies from descending into crisis – including but not limited to conflicts – is to strengthen their resilience through investments in inclusive and sustainable development. Indeed, solutions will always differ depending on the context. But I am confident that we have within our reach interlinked solutions for reaching our shared objectives within the prescribed timeframe.
As you know, and as highlighted in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, achieving the SDGs will require financial stability and sustainability.
The Secretary-General has recently launched his strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda. This strategy lays out actions the UN will take to accelerate resource mobilization for the SDGs.
The Financing strategy also relates to the implementation of the recent General Assembly resolution on the repositioning of the UN development system. It gives practical meaning to our resolve to advance the 2030 Agenda and to leave no one behind.
It will be critical that Member States remain engaged with the repositioning process as it unfolds. The Operational Activities Segment of ECOSOC will be an important forum to receive further guidance from Member States in early 2019.
The Second Committee will also be briefed on the System-wide Plan of Action which the UN system developed to implement the 3rd Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.
Distinguished Delegates,
This Committee has to bear in mind the trends that are shaping the world of tomorrow including diminishing rates of population growth, population ageing, urbanization and international migration. All these challenges need to be at the core of our planning for sustainable development.
In the coming week, you will reflect on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, to be adopted at an intergovernmental conference in Marrakesh in December 2018. The Compact agrees to repurpose the high-level dialogue process into the International Migration Review Forum. DESA is fully committed to support the development and review of such a programme.
Our common future is also being shaped at amazing speed by a technological revolution that is transforming our lives. Our collective ambition for realizing the 2030 Agenda now critically hinges on how we manage to harness these new frontier technologies and make them a force for good, while addressing the new divides that can come with them. This is also on your agenda.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2019 will be an important year, as the High-level Political Forum will convene both under the auspices of the ECOSOC in July and under the auspices of the General Assembly at the Summit-level in September. Heads of State and Government will review how far we have come in realizing the SDGs, and discuss actions for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
We should use this Summit of the HLPF to reaffirm our shared commitment to realize the SDGs by 2030, and pledge to step up our efforts in areas where we are lagging behind. We need to decide the process of the next cycle of the HLPF. We need to review the progress of the implementation of 17 SDGs in the first 4 years and more importantly, we need to confront the gaps and challenges in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
The success of the Summit next September will be critical for our common future. Deliberations in this Committee will certainly help to build consensus on some of the key issues that may be addressed at the Summit.
Distinguished Delegates,
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides an integrated framework for revitalizing multilateralism. We have a solid foundation upon which to build.
My Department, UNDESA, serving as the HLPF secretariat, will work with all UN entities to provide strong support to this process. We count on your guidance.
I wish you a most productive 73rd session of the General Assembly and look forward to the outcomes.
Thank you for your kind attention.
File date:
Monday, Octubre 8, 2018