Climate Finance, Private Investment Key to Sustained Growth in Vulnerable Nations, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Landlocked Developing Countries Meeting
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the annual ministerial meeting of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries, in New York today:
I am pleased to participate in this ministerial meeting of the Group of the Landlocked Developing Countries. I thank the Republic of Zambia for their leadership as the Global Chair of the Group and for advocating for the landlocked developing countries at different forums.
It is three years since the adoption of the Vienna Programme of Action and two years since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. As we transition from the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals, we can be satisfied with many of the results achieved. But, progress has not been even across regions, within countries, between the sexes, and among people of different ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The vision of the 2030 Agenda is to eradicate poverty, address climate change and build peaceful, inclusive societies for all — with a particular emphasis on women, youth and those left furthest behind. To succeed, we will need to ensure all key stakeholders are able to fully and effectively work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals at a much faster rate and at much larger scale. In short, implementing the 2030 Agenda will require bold and transformative actions.
The 2030 Agenda places renewed emphasis on countries in special situations, including addressing the special needs of the landlocked developing countries, and the Vienna Programme of Action is recognized as an integral part of the 2030 Agenda.
As a group, the landlocked developing countries continue to have mixed results on key development indicators, such as economic growth and trade. They remain highly vulnerable, with the challenges of their geography compounded by other pressures, such as climate change, desertification, land degradation and drought.
Central to their development will be implementation of the Paris Agreement. The United Nations system supported countries in identifying and declaring their climate targets in the lead-up to the Paris Agreement. This has carried forward — through multilateral initiatives such as the Nationally Determined Contributions Partnership — with translating targets into action, coordinating support and providing access to climate finance. The priority now must be to scale this up and accelerate action to achieve country targets. The Secretary General’s climate summit in 2019 will provide momentum for increased ambition.
However, as we are all aware, the financing requirements for realizing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement are considerable. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides the financing framework and a blueprint for global cooperation. In many Sustainable Development Goal priority areas, additional investments will be essential.
To achieve the global goals, it is essential that landlocked developing countries are able to improve their productive capacity, including their transit systems. They need to enhance regional integration and participation in global trade, strengthen governance and forge deeper regional and global partnerships. In this regard, development banks have a significant role to play in scaling up their contributions to sustainable development financing.
Another key stakeholder in the 2030 Agenda is the private sector. We need to establish equitable and balanced partnerships with the private sector to ensure that all financing becomes sustainable and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals. We need to find approaches where the private sector are active agents of change for Sustainable Development Goal action by embedding social and environmental factors in their investment decisions and supply chains. I have been encouraged this week by the private-sector-led side events, outlining their commitment to this agenda.
It is important that we monitor Sustainable Development Goal progress through disaggregated data, by building the capacity of national statistic systems and by improving data availability. We also need to explore and harness the powers of new technologies and big data. We need real time information to support evidence-based policymaking and ensure the voices and experiences of our people are considered.
A key principle that underlines all our efforts is advancement on gender equality. The empowerment of women and girls is an outcome of and an enabler for the whole 2030 Agenda. The systematic mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the implementation of the Agenda is therefore crucial.
The United Nations is committed to assisting on all these issues. That is why the Secretary-General has instituted reform of the development system to promote better delivery at country level.
I would like to congratulate this Group for reaching the required ratifications needed for bringing the Multilateral Agreement for the Establishment of an International Think Tank for the Landlocked Developing Countries into force. The establishment of the International Think Tank will help to strengthen the collective voice of the landlocked developing countries at the global level, including at the United Nations by providing high-quality research and policy advice.
The Secretary-General and I are fully committed to the serving the needs of our most vulnerable the Member States. I look forward to continuing to work closely with you in pursuit of the sustainable prosperity of the landlocked developing countries.