Remarks by the President of the General Assembly,

H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock

Biennial Summit for a Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Global Economy

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

[As Delivered]

 

Four trillion dollars.

Not billion, trillion.

 

That, almost unfathomable sum, is the current gap in financing the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Some may say the number is too high; we could never possibly close the gap.

 

But this ignores the fact that we already spend such amounts.

 

Not on schools and hospitals, on medicine, or clean energy, but on defence.

 

Last year alone we collectively spent almost $2.5 trillion.

 

So, it’s not about money and amounts, it’s about prioritization.

 

Money matters.

 

It matters to the 272 million children listed as ‘out of school’.

It matters to the 600 million people in Africa who are waiting for electricity.

It matters to hospitals and patients facing a shortage of 11 million healthcare workers.

 

Mr. Secretary-General,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

President of ECOSOC,

 

It is an honour to participate in this first Biennial Summit for a Sustainable, Inclusive, and Resilient Global Economy.

 

And as the Secretary-General has underlined, it’s the first of its kind. And sometimes we rush through these meetings and UN institutions, but I would like to take a moment to acknowledge that some have fought for years for this to happen. Among them, especially the Secretary-General. So, I would like to thank him for bringing this important topic, not only on the agenda, but fighting for it for a couple of years, so thank you Mr. Secretary-General.

 

We know that it’s so important because we all know the figures. And we know that all pieces of our multilateral system have to work in sync, if we are delivering results, particularly on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

But this is also an opportunity to link it to other initiatives we are working on today, an opportunity to ensure that the UN’s own reforms – guided in part by the UN80 Initiative – ensures complementarity and cohesion with the international financial architecture.

 

It’s an opportunity to build on the Pact for the Future and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.

 

We know that the Pact for the Future, adopted in September of last year, was designed to turbocharge the SDGs.

 

It offered clear recommendations on international financial reform, including:

 

  • Giving developing countries a greater say within international financial institutions.
  • By mobilizing more financing from multilateral development banks.
  • And reviewing debt concerns that hinder or hobble access to finance.

 

In June, Member States took this further with the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’, which recognized that gaps in financing are “symptoms of systemic shortcomings”.

 

The outcome of Sevilla recommended concrete steps, including:

  • Tripling the lending capacity of multilateral development banks by 2035.
  • Rechannelling Special Drawing Rights.
  • Expanding and accelerating debt relief.
  • And increasing the volume and predictability of concessional finance.

 

Taken together these steps – especially if synchronized within south-south cooperation – can empower countries with the tools and resources needed to meaningfully drive sustainable development.

 

Excellencies,

 

This has been a long road, and we made already in 2015, a promise – a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” – that included leaving no one behind.

 

But promises without action are simply not enough.

 

10 years later and we are failing on this promise.

 

We see this in the 700 million people who still live in extreme poverty.

And in the 673 million people who experienced hunger last year.

 

And we see that especially in those saddled with debt. External debt service reached nearly $500 billion in 2023.

 

Those are resources that could otherwise have been spent building infrastructure, boosting social support, and financing the important climate adaptation.

 

Colleagues, these are not just numbers or budgets; these are numbers about people that are falling through the cracks of a financial architecture that is in dire need of reform.

As the Secretary-General once said, “We can’t build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents”.

 

To put it a bit less diplomatically, the truth is, without a deep reform of financial institutions, and unless we solve the vicious debt trap, we will never deliver on the SDGs.

 

Therefore, change is needed; but we also know, change is not always easy; it can be unnerving.

 

But we need to have the right system and the right tools in place to get the job done.

 

And we have some incredible actors here, as mentioned before, with strong ladies leading them, to reinvigorate the UN reform agenda, as well as systemic changes across the international financial architecture; to be gamechangers, if we are really backing our financial commitments.

 

Now is the time to align our efforts, strengthen global cooperation, unlock resources, and deliver effectively and equally on the promises we made.

Now is the time to act together.

To leave no one behind.

Thank you.

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