UN / SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT

The current worldwide sustainable development model is threatening to reverse years of progress, if strategies don’t drastically change, an independent group of scientists has concluded in a major new report released today. UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:30
• Production Date: 11 September 2019
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS - DESA
• Subject Topical: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• MAMS Id: 2447372
• Parent Id: 2447372
• Alternate Title: unifeed190911b

Description

STORY: UN / SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT
TRT: 01:30
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 11 SEPTEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

11 SEPTEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press conference dais
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Shantanu Mukherjee, Chief, Integrated Policy and Analysis, Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA):
“Overall, the picture is a sobering one. The world continued to make progress in reducing extreme poverty, getting children to school, and cutting down on maternal mortality. But the pace of progress is faltering, and the report’s projections show that we are not on track for reaching many of the SDG targets, including the headline one of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.”
4. Wide shot, dais
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Messerli, Director, Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern:
“We believe that this will not be an easy journey, and we clearly see that there are powerful vested interests who don’t want to see change. But the report also provides the current knowledge on levers which can be used to really handle the winners and the losers of these changes that we so urgently need.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Endah Murniningtyas, former Deputy Planning Minister of Indonesia:
“The way we consume and produce today is a lot of resources are used and also contribute to the production of greenhouse gases. The consumption also produces a lot of risks that we need to reduce. Of course, the strategy for developing countries and developed countries are going to be different.”
8. Med shot, journalists
9. Zoom out, end of meeting

Storyline

The current worldwide sustainable development model is threatening to reverse years of progress, if strategies don’t drastically change, an independent group of scientists has concluded in a major new report released today (11 Sep).

Worsening inequalities and potentially irreversible damage to the natural environment on which we all depend, demands concerted action, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), urged in a statement on the report findings, compiled by a team of 15 UN-appointed experts.

Talking to journalists in New York, the Chief of Integrated Policy at DESA, Shantanu Mukherjee,
Said, “overall, the picture is a sobering one. The world continued to make progress in reducing extreme poverty, getting children to school, and cutting down on maternal mortality. But the pace of progress is faltering, and the report’s projections show that we are not on track for reaching many of the SDG targets, including the headline one of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.”

The report, “The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development,” points to understanding the relationships between individual SDGs and the concrete systems that define society today to devise a plan to ameliorate global instability.

Peter Messerli from the University of Bern said, “we believe that this will not be an easy journey, and we clearly see that there are powerful vested interests who don’t want to see change. But the report also provides the current knowledge on levers which can be used to really handle the winners and the losers of these changes that we so urgently need.”

For her part, Endah Murniningtyas, former Deputy Planning Minister of Indonesia, said “the way we consume and produce today is a lot of resources are used and also contribute to the production of greenhouse gases. The consumption also produces a lot of risks that we need to reduce. Of course, the strategy for developing countries and developed countries are going to be different.”

At the request of countries to evaluate progress of the 2030 SDG Agenda, adopted in 2015, the Global Report on Sustainable Development (GDSR) consists of surveys on scientific findings from ocean livelihoods, to sustainable consumption, production, and disaster risk management, among other issues.

The full report and its recommendations will be presented during the High-Level Political Forum at the 2019 SDG Summit that will convene heads of State and Government in New York on 24 and 25 September.