13 February 2023

Mr. Secretary-General,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

I welcome the Secretary-General’s briefing on Our Common Agenda and the future of cooperation to address humanity’s most pressing challenges.

It arrives at a pivotal moment in this era of overlapping crises and rapid change.

Nous devons faire de profonds choix sur le futur que nous voulons.

Au sein de ce nouveau paradigme, nous devons nous adapter, nous devons changer.

Si nous laissons passer cette opportunité pour poser de nouvelles bases – elle ne se représentera pas.

 

French translation: We have profound choices to make about the future we want.

And in this new paradigm, we must adapt, we must change.

If we miss this moment to lay new foundations – it will not come again.

The OCA offers a holistic agenda.

It both reinforces what has been accomplished and comes up with in-depth initiatives on issues that may not have been fully explored eight years ago, when the 2030 Agenda was created.

“وفي مُقّدِمَة الأَمرِ، فإنّها تُسَّلِطْ الضَّوء على تَسْريع أهداف التَّنمِيَةِ المُسْتَدامَة والتَّحوّل، حَيثُ أنّ ثمانينَ بالمِئَة من توصِياتِها تَصّبُّ في دَعْمِ آلِيَةِ تَنْفيذ أَجِنْدَةِ عِشرون ثلاثون.”

Arabic translation: Above all, it focuses on SDG acceleration and transformation, with 80 percent of its recommendations directly supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

For example, the Global Digital Compact, with its aim to “connect the unconnected”, speaks directly to the promise to leave no one behind.

The declaration on the Future generations is a framework for a much needed social contract supporting the sustainability transformation. Clearly speaking on the rights and hopefully obligations of generations. A message that we are aware of the consequences and price of our actions or inaction.

И Новая повестка дня для мира полностью вписывается в основополагающий принцип Повестки дня на период до 2030 года, согласно котороу мир является непременным условием развития. Мир необходим для любого общества, чтобы собрать свои ресурсы и сосредоточиться на устойчивом преобразовании. 

Russian translation: And the New Agenda for Peace fits squarely into the 2030 Agenda’s foundational principle that peace is a prerequisite for development. Peace is essential for any society to gather its resources and focus on the sustainability transformation.

Developing the “beyond GDP” methodology is offering us an inevitable tool to measure this transformation. It has been long overdue for science to provide us with this tool. Otherwise, how could we be able to master a process that we cannot measure? How could we give honest promise in September 2023 that the implementation of the transformation marked by the 17 SDGs will be more efficient than in the past?

The OCA provides a critical framework for our discussions as we prepare for the SDG Summit in September, and the Summit of the Future in 2024.

Together, these sister summits will help us forge the path of sustainable development.

Excellencies,

There is a clear understanding that the prime focus this year is on the SDG Summit, the midpoint review of the implementation of the 17 Goals.

My vision is that the work we invest into the preparations of the ministerial meeting and the Summit of Future will turbocharge SDG implementation at all levels.

For that to happen, I encourage you to

  • review the lessons learned from voluntary national reviews,
  • determine where we can unlock new commitments, and
  • spur the adoption of innovative policies based on scientific inputs.

Efforts to manage climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital revolution have proven that science is a platform for agreement and alignment when tackling complex issues.

I ask Member States to rely on science as a catalyser of accord in developing a common water agenda in March.

The outcome of these, your efforts will feed into the SDG Summit. 

Dear Colleagues,

Our survival and well-being depend on the transformative actions we take today.

Let me again thank the Secretary-General for his leadership in moving his agenda forward.

I stand ready to assist you, Mr. Secretary-General, and Member States in the pursuit of our shared goals, common values and common agenda.

I thank you.