Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, are our collective blueprint for a sustainable future.

But they are in danger.

Multiple, multi-fold, interrelated crises threaten our progress.

Financial conditions are tightening – curtailing developing countries’ ability to borrow and invest.

And private investment is falling - infrastructure investment in low-and middle-income countries dropped almost 9% in 2021.

Urgent actions are needed to reverse these trends.

Without additional private investment, the SDGs will fail.

This year marks the midpoint of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. That is why the Secretary-General has called for a public and private finance investment boost in the SDG Stimulus report.

And it is why it is my great pleasure to open the 8th SDG Investment Fair today.

This event brings together stakeholders across public and private finance to drive Sustainable Investing.

Over the next two days, several countries will showcase investment opportunities in areas that are SDG priorities, including clean energy, green transport and sustainable food systems.

The Investment Fair provides a unique opportunity to bring the private sector, governments, and civil society together, to strengthen public-private collaboration and develop tangible investment opportunities.

And it can help us to build momentum towards the SDG Summit in September, where world leaders will meet at the UN General Assembly to review progress on the SDGs.

I urge all of you here to take the opportunity this Investment Fair presents, to accelerate partnerships with and investments in developing countries.

And I can promise you that the UN system will continue to support you to do so – by providing local knowledge, capacity building and partnership development.

Together we can unlock new investment opportunities for sustainable development and climate action.

And let us use the SDG Investment Fair to do so – and bring renewed vigor to our efforts to align investments with the SDGs through to September and on the road to 2030.

Thank you.