SDG Advocate, Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, was awarded the prestigious German Sustainability Award on 8 December at a ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany.

The German Sustainability Award recognizes ecological and social achievements, celebrating stakeholders that are striving for the best sustainable solutions in line with the SDGs. Deutsche Telekom was given the honor as Germany’s most sustainable large company, while Hanover won the prize for the most sustainable city.

Queen Mathilde was honored for her steadfast commitment to the SDGs and her contribution to improving the situation of disadvantaged young people since 2000, with the Queen Mathilde Fund.

In her acceptance speech, Queen Mathilde emphasized the paradigm shift in development policy that the SDGs embody.

“For the first time, the Goals look at the bigger picture of development. They take a global, inclusive and cooperative approach to the social, economic and environmental concerns facing the world today, for they are all interlinked.”

She also called for accelerated action on implementation, saying that “we should not be complacent. There is still great inequality in the world and there are areas where poverty is still increasing.”

Queen Mathilde also used her platform to remind everyone that the SDGs are universal, and that “affluent societies have also not yet completely eradicated poverty either. There are sometimes huge gaps in income and opportunities.”

As well as being universal, Her Majesty emphasized the fact that “the SDGs are cooperative. To achieve sustainable development, governments, business, civil society and individuals must work together. Each of us has a role to play at our own level … even small-scale projects and individual acts can contribute to changing lives for the better.”

In her address, the Queen noted the importance of engaging and listening to youth, saying that they “are the leaders of tomorrow,” and that we must “listen to them, their concerns, expectations and aspirations.”

Finally, Queen Mathilde issued a call to action for people to work together, with urgency, to achieve the world we want by 2030.

“The SDGs embody a strong and powerful message: hope for our common future. They provide a framework for us all to work together to improve lives sustainably for people everywhere, to build a better world. We cannot afford to waste time … let us increase our efforts urgently.”

Her Majesty Queen Mathilde’s speech can be watched in full here.

More information on the German sustainability Award can be found here.