Secretary-General, in Message to International Forum in Beijing, Urges Harnessing

Power of Finance, Business to Cause of Sustainable Development

 

This is the text of a message today from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (delivered on his behalf by Renata Lok-Dessallien, Resident Coordinator in China) to the 2010 International Finance Forum in Beijing:

I am pleased to send my greetings to the 2010 International Finance Forum.  You meet as the world is still weathering a lengthy financial storm.  Your forum is well placed to explore ideas on how to minimize its effects.

Whatever else we have learned from the crisis, this much is clear:  global economic management can no longer afford to neglect the most vulnerable or disadvantaged.  Building a world of prosperity and dignity for all is not just morally correct, it is sound economics.

We have a term for this vision:  sustainable development.  Two years from now, the nations of the world will return to Rio de Janeiro to renew our commitment to ideals first embraced in 1992.  We also have a blueprint for bringing this vision to life:  the Millennium Development Goals.  The September Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York generated strong political momentum.  Leaders also made significant resource commitments — including $40 billion for our new Global Strategy on Women’s and Children’s Health.  At a time when many Governments are tightening belts, it is encouraging to see national leaders protecting aid commitments from the knife of austerity.

We face two tests in the coming weeks — this week’s Group of Twenty (G-20) summit in Seoul, where development will be high on the agenda, and at the United Nations climate change negotiations in Cancun in December.  At both these venues, and in all our work for sustainable development, China is a key player.

In Cancun, we must capture progress on those issues where there is consensus, and take steps to address the “trust gap”.  It is increasingly clear that the more we delay, the more we will pay — in competitiveness, resources, and lives.  Most immediately, we need progress, both on fast-start financing and longer term funding for mitigation and adaptation.  For many developing countries, this is a litmus test of industrialized countries’ commitment.  I commend to you all the just-issued report of my High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, which sets out important options for generating resources from both the public and private sectors.

I urge all the distinguished participants in this conference to focus on these important challenges.  We must fully harness the power of finance and business to achieve our development objectives.  I wish you a successful meeting.

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For information media • not an official record