The 193-member General Assembly adopted the new framework, “Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years.
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The three-day UN Sustainable Development Summit kicks off Friday with a record number of top world leaders, besides those from CARICOM, expected to attend, as well as heads of multilateral bodies, such as the World Bank and the global Monetary Fund (IMF).
“193 countries. Thousands of non-governmental organizations and the private sector”, he said, adding that “If we combine all the numbers it will be around 8.5 million people or organizations who have been surveyed on what kind of a world and what kind of a future they wanted to have”. It is rooted in gender equality and respect for the rights of all.
The SDGs are intended to be universal, applying to all countries rather than just the developing world.
Anastasiadeswent on to say that climate change is a global challenge of the highest priority due to its severe and multidimensional effects on humanity and the planet.
This is a monumental shift in thinking about sustainable development from a worldview where rich nations support poorer nations to develop, towards a view where the actions of all, particularly those in wealthy nations, risk destabilizing important parts of Earth’s life-support system – most obviously the climate, the oceans, biodiversity and the forests.
“Together, we can build a better future for people and planet”, said the secretary-general.
The President thanked world governments for trusting Kenya with the role of spearheading the process that led to the adoption of the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
The new goals were initiated at a United Nations summit on sustainable development in Rio De Janeiro in June 2012.
“We have a big, bold agenda before us – now we must work to make it real in people’s lives everywhere“, said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, ahead of the gaveling of a new agenda for sustainable development.
Xi also praised the newly approved post-2015 global goals at the UNGA.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, a strong supporter of the goal calling for affordable, sustainable energy, said lyrics from a song by “the famous philosopher Elvis Presley” were a fitting description of what must happen next. “These goals represent people’s aspirations and rights and they must and can be realized”.
“We had the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) that aimed at reducing by half over a longer period and in Africa we did not even manage to reach these goals”, Christophe Bellmann of the global Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development told RFI.
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Implementation of the new goals, requiring trillions of dollars in investment, will be monitored and reviewed using a set of global indicators to be agreed on by March next year.
