Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly

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Second informal consultations convened by the co-facilitators on the political declaration to be adopted by the SDG Summit in September 2023 

16 March 2023

 

 

Excellencies, esteemed colleagues,

I thank the co-facilitators, Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani of Qatar and Ambassador Fergal Mythen of Ireland for the invitation.

Fergal, happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!

Dear Alya and Fergal, I am sincerely grateful to you for your work leading this process, and in particular the preparation of the elements paper circulated to MS on 28 February.

This paper is a good basis to start the discussion.

I fully agree with the co-facilitators’ call for the political declaration to be a consensual, concise, ambitious, action-oriented and transformative document.

I have been particularly pleased by their emphasis on the need to have an ambitious and transformative outcome at the Summit.

I am sure that, if we want to have such an outcome, we need transformative elements. We have to tell the world why and how the second half of the SDG implementation period will be more impactful and our pledges more credible.

We may think of what has been missing from the current implementation and reporting. If you wish, where are the Gamechangers – that will make our commitments more credible.

I have in mind key building blocks such as “Beyond GDP” or the creation of the scientific evaluation system of the SDGs’ implementation.

“Beyond GDP” to measure the real transformation for which we had no real tool until now and Scientific Validation System to make the data comparable and validate the aggregated impacts.

I am very much encouraged by the positive feedback from Member States and various stakeholders on these proposals.

Likewise, it will be useful and helpful to take into consideration the discussions and commitments that emanated or will, hopefully, emanate from several processes, such as the Transforming Education Summit, COP27, COP 15, the LDC5 Conference, the UN Water Conference, the Sendai Framework Mid-Term Review, the HLPF, and FfD.

I am sure that the UN Water Conference as well as other upcoming meetings and ongoing processes will result in game-changers that can also find their place in the political declaration of the SDG Summit.

The SDG Summit will constitute the mid-point review of the implementation of the 17 Goals.

My vision for the SDG Summit is one of a meeting that serves to produce a quality change in our efforts to accelerate implementation at all levels.

A quantum leap, if you wish.

An outcome to turbocharge implementation.

For that to happen, we need to go beyond repeating well-known affirmations, set out bold steps and demonstrate leadership at this critical time.

The outcome will provide guidance to many international platforms, organisations, including development, banks.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The stakes are huge. The real transformation is at stake.

Not necessarily the relocation of some existing resources, not only, but to recalibrate the system of priorities and use the cooperation channels, national plans and resources accordingly.

Before the summit, we have to raise the level of transparency and honesty to review the lessons learnt from the past VNRs and look at where we can unlock new commitments, find new tools, and adopt innovative policies based on scientific inputs.

I am greatly encouraged by the briefing of the Independent Group of Scientists on GSDR that took place on 7 February as a part of the first GA informal plenary briefing on “Science-based Evidence in Support of the Sustainable Solutions”.

The briefing from the IGS gave us a bedrock of scientific knowledge, a basis for unfolding this crucial negotiation process – and I would very much like to continue in this spirit.

That is why the second scientific informal plenary briefing will focus on “Beyond GDP”, “Food Security and Sustainability Transformation” and “A Scientific Support System for the UN”.

It will take place on 12 April at 10am in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

I invite you all to join us there.

As part of my commitment to hear from the civil society and motivate them to bring their contributions to the SDG Summit, I will convene my second Town Hall meeting with CSOs on 20 April at 10am.

The focus of this townhall will be on the need for accelerated progress towards the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.

Let me thank the co-facilitators for kindly agreeing to participate in this Town Hall meeting.

Dear Friends,

I wish you a fruitful discussion today and count on your support to ensure that we have a truly ambitious outcome.

An outcome that really helps us jointly transform the world.

I thank you.