Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly
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High-level Meeting on Middle-Income Countries
(As delivered)
Madame President,
Ambassador Hilale,
USG Li,
Dear colleagues,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
It is an honor to address this year’s High-Level Meeting on Middle Income Countries.
As 110 nations representing three quarters of the world’s population and nearly one third of its GDP – you are central drivers of global development.
You have vast knowledge to share – and a range of development stories to tell.
Your geographies, ecosystems, cultures, and economies are incredibly diverse – with varying vulnerabilities.
Some of you encounter frequent drought and desertification, while others face tropical storms and sea-level rise.
But all of you face the common challenge of establishing your capacity to cope with these extreme conditions in ways that ensure resilience.
Fulfilling our 2030 Agenda hinges on how well you meet these challenges – and how well the international community helps you do that.
With the landmark SDG Summit just four months away, there is no time to lose.
Today’s meeting offers a good opportunity to identify coherent, consistent policy measures that will set you on a strong course for a resilient future.
Let us recognize a few facts.
First, it is time for us all to get serious about debt relief in middle-income countries, which host the majority of the extreme poor in the world.
Of the minimum estimated six hundred billion in “debt service at risk”, middle-income countries account for 94 per cent.
In the torrent of today’s global crises, some have been forced to prioritize short-term economic goals over longer-term aims.
In many countries, including small island developing States, high public debt service is crowding out investment in green, resilient and equitable transformation.
How do we turn this around?
Various debt relief instruments can be considered.
The debt-for-climate or debt-for-nature swaps offer a win-win for debtors, creditors and donors to meet national development objectives in line with the SDGs.
The IMF Resilience and Sustainability Trust and Food Shock Window, along with the Loss and Damage Fund agreed at COP27, open avenues to expand contingency financing to countries in need.
Second: It is time for the international community to go beyond GDP as the primary measure of development – since GDP has never been designed for that.
We need a measurement that captures the cost of human, social, natural and built capital at the same time – namely the total assets of a nation since its balanced growing is the essence of sustainable development.
Doing so, it is uniquely positioned to measure progress towards the SDGs.
Without having a comprehensive measurement system, how can we claim we are making the desired progress?
How can we state that our pledge for the comprehensive implementation of Agenda 2030 is credible?
The System of Environmental Economic Accounting organizes statistics on the environment and its relationship with the economy.
Currently, 90 countries compile the SEEA – the System of Environmental Economic Accounting – and I strongly encourage more Governments to use it.
It is an important step to the direction of being in control of measuring and mastering well-being for the planet and people.
Third: Middle-income countries need equitable access to new technologies, science and innovation that spur resilience in the long run.
This is a shared charge – and international partnership is key.
The revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development is an important vehicle for strengthening this worldwide cooperation.
Our 2030 Agenda is a universal call to collectively transform our world.
In our quest, we have reached an inflection point.
Never before in history has so much depended on the decisions we make now.
Let us meet the moment.
I thank you.
