NEW YORK: United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Monday said of the many challenges engulfing states today, exacerbated by Covid-19, the lack of access to finance for developing countries to recover, is "a crisis not seen in a generation."
He said this in his speech at the 2022 SDG Moment in voicing his concern over dramatic reversals in global progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed by countries in 2015.
"The world has a long 'to do' list," he said, in calling world leaders to "rescue" the 17 SDGs, and get "back on track" to build a better world that leaves no one behind.
"We need finance and investment from the public and private sectors. We need a reformed financial architecture that benefits developing countries, providing critical financing and debt relief.
"This is the only sustainable pathway to address the obscene inequalities that exist in every country, while ensuring that the world doesn't slide into a recession.
"Governments need to invest like never before in health, education and wellbeing of all people — including refugees and migrants.
"We need expanded universal social protection to protect people against economic shocks, while boosting job-creation — especially in the digital, care and green economies," he said.
The SDG Moment, held a day before the General Debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, serves to highlight the importance of achieving the SDGs
Acknowledging the world is at a "moment of great peril" due to conflicts, climate catastrophe, mistrust, poverty, discrimination, unemployment, rising cost of living, and other challenges - Guterres said that although it was tempting to put long-term priorities to the side, development could not wait.
"The education of our children cannot wait. Dignified jobs cannot wait. Full equality for women and girls cannot wait. Comprehensive healthcare, meaningful climate action, biodiversity protection - these cannot be left for tomorrow.
"We must all do more. And we need to save our planet, which is quite literally on fire. This means addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss and pollution.
"And it means moving away from our suicidal dependence on fossil fuels and jump-starting the renewable energy transition in every country, and supporting developing countries as they make this shift and adapt to the changes around them."
The President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, said it was timely and more necessary than ever to "re-dedicate ourselves to the SDGs" as the world falls behind in realising the goals.
Kőrösi stressed that it was time to "get serious" about saving the world and asked Member States to deliver on promises made.
"The pandemic was a postcard from the future, a bleak future of interlocking global crises. One that we want to avoid and that we can avoid. We must now regain the speed lost to the pandemic and to our inaction. Solutions are at hand.
"Key transitions need to happen. Just to name a few, a transition to a renewable, carbon free energy base and to green, inclusive and circular economies, where food systems must also be transformed.
"We should also renew our multilateral commitment on establishing a science support mechanism," he added.
NST specialist writer Tharanya Arumugam is a 2022 fellow of the United Nations Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship.
