The inaugural assembly of his 10-member SDG Stimulus Leaders Group, came about as many creating international locations are nonetheless reeling from repeated financial shocks and debt burdens that far outstrip their capability to pay.
The Group advocates on the highest stage for equipping creating international locations with the monetary sources to put money into the 17 SDGs, which offer the blueprint for a extra simply and equitable future for all folks and the planet by 2030.
Mr. Guterres underlined the necessity for “a surge in motion now” for the SDGs.
Fuelling sustainable improvement
“Growing international locations – and billions of individuals – are going through the worst financial outlook in additional than a technology,” he mentioned. “Financing is the gas of improvement and we should make sure that international locations are usually not compelled to run on empty.”
Leaders attending the assembly mentioned the Secretary-Common’s name for an SDG Stimulus.
The wide-ranging proposal requires near-term actions to supply creating international locations with the monetary sources to alleviate their rapid constraints and put international locations again on an accelerated improvement path.
The SDG Stimulus identifies three areas of motion: tackling the excessive value of debt and rising dangers of debt misery; massively scaling up inexpensive long-term financing, particularly by multilateral improvement banks (MDBs), by no less than $500 billion per yr; and increasing contingency financing to international locations going through liquidity constraints.
Higher life for all
Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Andrew Holness of Jamaica are co-chairs of the SDG Stimulus Leaders Group.
The opposite members embody Heads of State and Authorities of Barbados, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Kenya, South Africa and Spain.
“The Sustainable Development Goals are essential to rising our communities, constructing a greater future, and protecting the air clear,” mentioned Mr. Trudeau. “Let’s preserve working collectively to make life fairer, extra sustainable, and extra affluent for everybody.”
Financing is vital
Mr. Holness warned that the SDGs will probably be unattainable until creating States have entry to financing.
“The worldwide monetary system should urgently reply by modern mechanisms to create the fiscal area wanted for creating States to construct a sustainable and resilient future for current and future generations,” he mentioned.
Management Group member Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, who can also be amongst 17 SDG Advocates appointed by the Secretary-Common, warmly welcomed this chance to “turbocharge” the implementation of the objectives.
Solely method ahead
The SDG Stimulus, alongside the Bridgetown Initiative, the Paris Pact for Folks and Planet, and different worldwide initiatives, “are converging to scale up the scope of financing and pace up its disbursement,” she mentioned.
“That is the one method that all the world neighborhood, particularly essentially the most weak amongst us, can meet the local weather disaster and overcome the obstacles to the true sustainable improvement that every one of our peoples deserve.”
The Secretary-Common first proposed components of the SDG stimulus some 18 months in the past. Since then, it has gained traction at many world gatherings, and most just lately was welcomed by world leaders on the SDG Summit in New York final September and within the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration that very same month.
Advancing the plan
G20 international locations have rechannelled $100 billion {dollars} of Particular Drawing Rights (SDRs), enabling the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) to help creating international locations with liquidity financing.
MDBs even have launched into a collection of reforms that can allow them to collectively increase lending by some $300 to 400 billion {dollars} over the subsequent decade.
Regardless of these preliminary steps, situations in lots of creating international locations are worsening, underscoring the necessity for bolder and sooner motion, the UN mentioned.
On this regard, the Leaders Group will proactively search to advance the SDG Stimulus over the subsequent yr.
