Spotlight: UN holds first SDG Moment to galvanize action for sustainable development

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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday convened the first SDG Moment, a high-level event to galvanize global efforts toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In his keynote speech, Guterres called for political will and bold action.

Public appetite for transformative change is growing. But one critical ingredient is still missing: political will, without which neither public appetite nor stakeholder action will be sufficient, he said.

"The science is clear. The people are clear. This is no time to procrastinate. The decisions taken over the next few months and years will have enormous impact on where we will be by 2030."

He called for action in three crucial areas: finance, COVID-19 recovery, and ambition.

Right now, developing countries face the dual challenges of funding the pandemic response and avoiding a major debt crisis, he said. "For the SDGs to stand a chance, we must address the immediate, medium- and longer-term financing challenges that developing countries face."

Inclusive and green COVID-19 recovery plans, done right, can help countries to transition to a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable economy, he said. "As we spend huge amounts of money to recover from the coronavirus, we must deliver new jobs and businesses through a clean, green transition."

"That means ensuring that taxpayers' money is used for a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery. It means ending fossil fuel subsidies, making polluters pay for their pollution and ensuring that no new coal-fired power plants are built. And it means reducing inequalities and placing women, who have been among the worst affected by job losses and increased care burdens, at the center of recovery plans," said Guterres.

He called for ambition and solidarity to provide the 35 billion extra U.S. dollars needed so that COVID-19 vaccines and treatments are available to everyone, fast; ambition to cut carbon emissions by half in the next decade, paving the way to carbon neutrality by 2050; and ambition to protect biodiversity, achieve gender equality, end poverty and hunger and fulfill the promise of the SDGs.

"This annual SDG Moment is an opportunity to demonstrate that, as one united family of nations, we have what it takes to eradicate poverty and hunger, tackle climate change, deliver gender equality and achieve all 17 global goals."

The world can make tremendous progress over the coming decade, especially for the most vulnerable and the poorest of the poor, he said. "When the public appetite for change is matched with political will and smart policy choices, rapid progress is unstoppable."

Even before the virus, inequalities were growing. The benefits of globalization and growth had failed to reach millions upon millions of destitute people, deepening their already profound despair. Biodiversity was also disappearing. Greenhouse gases were at record levels, he noted. "We need a path that brings health to all, revives economies, brings people in from the margins of society and builds long-term resilience, sustainability, opportunity and peace."

That path exists, he said. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is designed to address the very fragilities and shortcomings that the pandemic has exposed. At its heart is a simple promise: to end poverty and leave no one behind.

"In the midst of the greatest international crisis of their time, the founders of the United Nations raised their eyes above the horizon and planned a better, safer future. The COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest challenge faced by us since the founding of the United Nations has brought us low," he said.

"But we will not be beaten. We, too, must look beyond the current crisis and set our sights high, as we strike out for a world of dignity and opportunity for all on a healthy planet," Guterres said. "Together, let us make this a decade of action, a decade of ambition, a decade of transformation, a decade of hope and peace."

Guterres was joined, virtually, by some 20 heads of state and government, activists, UN leaders, business executives, and representatives of civil society organizations.

Volkan Bozkir, president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, asked member states to use the SDGs as the blueprint for recovery from COVID-19.

"Halting the spread of COVID-19 and regaining progress against the SDGs must be our collective priority," said Bozkir. "It will not be easy, but the SDGs themselves provide us the very blueprint needed to recover -- better."

"We must look to 2020 with renewed vigor. The pandemic may have set us back. But it can also be the board from which we bounce back further and faster," he said.

Bozkir noted that progress on the SDGs was inconsistent and off-course well before COVID-19 shook the world.

"The pandemic has unveiled the dangers inherent in delay. It has reminded us, starkly, of the need to act," he said. "Not since the United Nations was founded has the world required such levels of collaboration, cooperation and dialogue. These are the moments for which we were built."

Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed echoed that COVID-19 may provide an opportunity for countries to change the course of action and strive to achieve the SDGs.

The COVID-19 crisis is testing every country in the world, threatening decades of development progress and undermining plans to deliver the SDGs, she said. "But it is also an opportunity -- to do things differently; to make great leaps forward; to imagine a better future and to collaborate to make it a reality, to defeat COVID."

"We have a clear way ahead. But we have a great deal of work to do," she said. "Now really is the time to demonstrate the value of multilateralism and deliver hope, opportunities and sustainable development for all."

Achim Steiner, the administrator of the UN Development Programme joined in the call to leverage the COVID-19 crisis to spring forward on the 2030 Agenda.

"The pandemic is a clear warning. Recovery from crisis cannot be driven by a zero-sum game of economy versus environment, or health versus economy," he said. "Rather, this is a once-in-a-generation chance to set things straight and I am hopeful that this ambition will be met."

Phasing in programs like temporary basic income for the most vulnerable populations and phasing out expenses that do not serve humanity, like fossil fuel subsidies, can have a transformative impact on both people and planet, he said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg also called for efforts to build a fairer global system in order to recover better from COVID-19.

"The pandemic has exposed fundamental weaknesses in our global system. There can no longer be any doubt about the need for urgent global action to build a fairer and more resilient world," she said. "This is exactly what the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is all about."

She called for solidarity and multilateralism.

"The pandemic strikes indiscriminately. There is no time and place to talk about 'they' and 'us.' Unless the pandemic is addressed as a global challenge, it will bounce back and effectively stop our chances of realizing the SDGs."

"To build back better and greener, we need a renewed commitment to an inclusive, innovative, and resilient multilateralism," she said.

UN Women's executive director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, called for bold policies to prevent the reversal of women's cause as a result of COVID-19.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, a blueprint for advancing women's rights. But COVID-19 threatens to undo the gains made on gender equality in the past 25 years, said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

In 2021, it is expected that there will be 118 women in poverty for every 100 poor men globally, and this could rise by 2030. This would be a stunning reversal for the SDGs, she warned.

"But this kind of backsliding is not a foregone conclusion. With bold policies to boost women's economic empowerment, we can shift course and accelerate progress instead."

Societies benefit when women can rise to opportunities. A profound transformation of economies is required for a just, sustainable future where women are at the center. Countries need to invest in care services, education and skills that will be the backbone of the economies of the future, she said.

The SDG Moment will be convened annually till 2030 -- presumably on the sidelines of the General Assembly high-level week -- to match the Decade of Action for the SDGs. Enditem

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