Closing of High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development overwhelmingly adopts ministerial declaration by 164 votes in favour, 2 against at 47th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Economic and Social Council
• Video Length: 01:40:45
• Production Date: 18 July 2018
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Personal Subject: ANTONIO GUTERRES; MARIE CHATARDOVÁ
• Corporate Name: WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION - WTO
• Subject Topical: 2030 AGENDA; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• MAMS Id: 2203501
• Parent Id: 2202686

Description

Adopting its Ministerial Declaration by a vote of 164 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with no abstentions, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development reaffirmed today its commitment to effectively implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for all people, everywhere.

Held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council under the theme “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies”, the Forum, in adopting the Declaration (document E/HLPF/2018/L.2), stressed that the 2030 Agenda is people-centred, universal and transformative.

Ministers and high representatives also reaffirmed their commitment to eradicating poverty, expressing concern that poverty remains a principle cause of hunger, and stressed the importance of taking collective measures to make an impact, among other goals. They further reaffirmed their commitment to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, stressing that much work remains to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda three years into its implementation. They also commended the 46 countries that delivered voluntary national reviews.

They committed to embracing diversity in cities and other human settlements, and to strengthening social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and tolerance. They noted with concern that 844 million people lack basic water services, 2.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 4.5 billion people have no access to safely managed sanitation, and 892 million still practise open defecation. They also acknowledged that owing to rapid urbanization, many cities and local authorities face challenges in providing access to adequate housing and that migration and forced displacement further exacerbates these challenges. They called on all stakeholders to adopt a sustainable-food systems approach and develop effective strategies to reduce food waste. They underlined the challenges related to plastic waste, especially in the oceans, stressed the critical role of science, technology and innovation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and endeavoured to take immediate steps to strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The Forum recognized that sustainable development cannot be realized without peace and security and that peace and security will be at risk without sustainable development. “We call for further effective measures and actions to be taken, in conformity with international law, to remove the obstacles to the full realization of the right to self-determination of peoples living under colonial and foreign occupation,” the Declaration reads.

It also reaffirms the Forum’s commitment to gender equality, the empowerment of all women and girls and full realization of the human rights of all women and girls. “To achieve inclusive, sustainable and resilient societies, we call for the leadership and full, effective and equal participation of women in decision-making in the design, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of policies and programmes that affect their livelihoods, well-being and resilience,” the document reads. We reiterate the urgency to ensure women’s equal access to, and control over, land and nature resources, it adds.

Voting on an amendment submitted by the United States (document E/HLPF/2018/L.3), proposing to replace the words “mutually beneficial” in paragraph 28 with “international cooperation”, the Forum rejected that proposal by a vote of 107 against to 50 in favour, with 3 abstentions (Norway, Republic of Moldova, Seychelles). It rejected another amendment proposed by the United States — by 155 votes against to 2 in favour (Israel, United States), with 3 abstentions (Japan, Nigeria, Republic of Korea) — to replace the sentence “will continue to promote a universal, rules-based, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, as well as meaningful trade liberalization”, in paragraph 28, with the following sentence: “We reaffirm that trade can contribute to the promotion of sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty, as recognized in the 2030 Agenda.”

The Forum also voted to retain paragraph 12 of the Declaration, rejecting Israel’s proposal to delete it, by 109 votes in favour to 5 against (Australia, Canada, Honduras, Israel, United States), with 46 abstentions. It further voted to retain paragraph 16 of the Declaration — by 133 in favour to 11 against, with 10 abstentions (Algeria, Bahrain, China, Egypt, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Zimbabwe) after the Russian Federation requested a recorded vote seeking the paragraph’s deletion.

Speaking in the voting portion were representatives of the United States, Israel, Russian Federation, Canada (on behalf of several Member States), Turkey, Egypt (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Austria (on behalf of the European Union), China, Venezuela, Morocco and Azerbaijan. An observer for the Holy See also delivered a statement.

Addressing the Forum, Secretary-General António Guterres said that while much progress has been made, the world has also backtracked in areas that are fundamental to the shared pledge to leave no one behind. For the first time in a decade, the number of people who are undernourished has increased, gender inequality continues to deprive women of basic rights, and investment in sustainable infrastructure remains “entirely inadequate” — all amid runaway climate change, eroding human rights and persistent pockets of poverty. Greenhouse gas emissions must be brought under control, countries must do everything to mobilize internal resources, and drivers of conflict must be addressed. “Let us leave this Forum with a fresh commitment to work together, to share innovative solutions and live up to the Agenda we set for ourselves.”

Marie Chatardová (Czechia), President of the Economic and Social Council, noted that a record 46 countries presented their voluntary national reviews over the past eight days, reporting “great strides” in incorporating the Goals into national development plans. “We are only at the beginning of the journey,” she said, noting that many people still face obstacles preventing them from realizing their basic rights. Data to help understand who are the poorest and what is holding them back is still elusive, and significant resources must be devoted to building statistical capacity for the production of high-quality disaggregated statistics. She said that among the recommendations that emerged were proposals for establishing a “blue fund” to support the design and implementation of transboundary water management; tripling investments in clean and renewable energies; enhancing partnerships at the local, regional and national levels; scaling up pilot projects for sustainable consumption and production; capturing the true value of ecosystems and biodiversity; and leveraging new technologies while protecting the most vulnerable.

Also this afternoon, the Council continued its high-level segment under the theme “From global to local: supporting sustainable and resilient societies in urban and rural communities”. Representatives of the following countries delivered statements: Slovenia, Lesotho, Niger, Tajikistan, Ireland, Armenia, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Egypt, Uruguay, Turkmenistan, Nepal, Panama, Fiji, Russian Federation, Liberia, Spain, and Viet Nam.

The Economic and Social Council will continue that debate at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 19 July.