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2023 SDG Summit at the United Nations General Assembly
The 2023 SDG Summit will be convened on 18-19 September 2023, during the United Nations General Assembly high-level week and marks the mid-point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Heads of State and Government will gather at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to follow-up and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . They will carry out a comprehensive review of the state of the SDGs, respond to the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world, and provide high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to the target year of 2030 for achieving the SDGs. Learn more here: un.org/en/conferences/SDGSummit2023
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2023 SDG Summit at the United Nations General Assembly

The 2023 SDG Summit will be convened on 18-19 September 2023, during the United Nations General Assembly high-level week. Heads of State and Government will gather at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to follow-up and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . They will carry out a comprehensive review of the state of the SDGs, respond to the impact of multiple and interlocking crises facing the world, and provide high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to the target year of 2030 for achieving the SDGs.

The Summit will also bring together political and thought leaders from governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, women and youth and other stakeholders in a series of high-level meetings with the Heads of State and Government.

The 2023 SDG Summit marks the mid-point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2022 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council called for the Summit to “ mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals .”

The SDG Summit will be chaired by the President of the General Assembly. The outcome of the Summit will be a negotiated political declaration.

This will be the second SDG Summit – the HLPF under the auspices of the General Assembly – since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015.

The special edition of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet”, the Advance Unedited version has been released. Please read the Newsletter for the latest information.

Find more information here on the programme, documentation, registration, media, and more: un.org/en/conferences/SDGSummit2023

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High-Level Political Forum 2023

High-Level Political Forum 2023

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held in New York from Monday, 10 July, to Wednesday,

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19 July 2023, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Monday, 17 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2023 as part of the High-level Segment of the Council. The last day of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC will be on Thursday, 20 July 2023.

The theme will be " Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels ”.

In the forum, participants will be able to further discuss the effective and inclusive recovery measures to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and explore actionable policy guidance for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs at all levels.

The HLPF in 2023, without prejudice to the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the SDGs, will also review in-depth Goals 6 on clean water and sanitation, 7 on affordable and clean energy, 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals.

This includes special sessions on "Transformation from the ground up: Acting at local level" on 11 July and "SDGs in focus: SDG 11 and interlinkages with other SDGs –Sustainable cities and communities" on 13 July.

In addition, 39 countries and territories will present their voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the forum: Bahrain,Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Brunei Darussalam , Burkina Faso,Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic , Comoros,Chile, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo , European Union, France,Guyana,Iceland,Ireland,Kuwait,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Maldives,Mongolia,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Rwanda,Saudi Arabia,Singapore, Slovakia, St Kitts & Nevis , Syrian Arab Republic , Tajikistan,Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, United Republic of Tanzania , Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, and Zambia. 

The HLPF in July will also support the mid-term review of the implementation of the SDGs and the preparations for the 2023 SDG Summit – the HLPF to be convened under the auspices of the General Assembly in September 2023.

Learn more here: hlpf.un.org/2023

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Biodiversity - our strongest natural defense against climate change

The Earth’s land and the ocean serve as natural carbon sinks, absorbing large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Conserving and restoring natural spaces, and the biodiversity they contain, is essential for limiting emissions and adapting to climate impacts.

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Biodiversity - our strongest natural defense against climate change

Photocomposition: a butterfly on the tip of a branch, representing biodiversity

The Earth’s land and the ocean serve as natural carbon sinks, absorbing large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Conserving and restoring natural spaces, and the biodiversity they contain, is essential for limiting emissions and adapting to climate impacts.

Biological diversity — or biodiversity — is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms, from genes and bacteria to entire ecosystems such as forests or coral reefs. The biodiversity we see today is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution, increasingly influenced by humans.

Biodiversity forms the web of life that we depend on for so many things – food, water, medicine, a stable climate, economic growth, among others. Over half of global GDP is dependent on nature. More than 1 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods. And land and the ocean absorb more than half of all carbon emissions. 

But nature is in crisis. Up to one million species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. Irreplaceable ecosystems like parts of the Amazon rainforest are turning from carbon sinks into carbon sources due to deforestation. And 85 per cent of wetlands, such as salt marshes and mangrove swamps which absorb large amounts of carbon, have disappeared. 

How is climate change affecting biodiversity?

The main driver of biodiversity loss remains humans’ use of land – primarily for food production. Human activity has already altered over 70 per cent of all ice-free land. When land is converted for agriculture, some animal and plant species may lose their habitat and face extinction.  

But climate change is playing an increasingly important role in the decline of biodiversity. Climate change has altered marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the world. It has caused the loss of local species, increased diseases, and driven mass mortality of plants and animals, resulting in the first climate-driven extinctions.

On land, higher temperatures have forced animals and plants to move to higher elevations or higher latitudes, many moving towards the Earth’s poles, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems. The risk of species extinction increases with every degree of warming.

The Earth is feeling the heat.

In the ocean, rising temperatures increase the risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems. Live coral reefs, for instance, have nearly halved in the past 150 years, and further warming threatens to destroy almost all remaining reefs.

photocomposition: a turtle swimming in the ocean

photocomposition: a turtle swimming in the ocean

photocomposition: a turtle swimming in the ocean

Overall, climate change affects the health of ecosystems, influencing shifts in the distribution of plants, viruses, animals, and even human settlements. This can create increased opportunities for animals to spread diseases and for viruses to spill over to humans. Human health can also be affected by reduced ecosystem services, such as the loss of food, medicine and livelihoods provided by nature. 

Why is biodiversity essential for limiting climate change?

When human activities produce greenhouse gases, around half of the emissions remain in the atmosphere, while the other half is absorbed by the land and ocean. These ecosystems – and the biodiversity they contain – are natural carbon sinks, providing so-called nature-based solutions to climate change.

Protecting, managing, and restoring forests, for example, offers roughly two-thirds of the total mitigation potential of all nature-based solutions. Despite massive and ongoing losses, forests still cover more than 30 per cent of the planet’s land.

Peatlands – wetlands such as marshes and swamps – cover only 3 per cent of the world’s land, but they store twice as much carbon as all the forests. Preserving and restoring peatlands means keeping them wet so the carbon doesn’t oxidize and float off into the atmosphere. 

Ocean habitats such as seagrasses and mangroves can also sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at rates up to four times higher than terrestrial forests can. Their ability to capture and store carbon make mangroves highly valuable in the fight against climate change.

Conserving and restoring natural spaces, both on land and in the water, is essential for limiting carbon emissions and adapting to an already changing climate. About one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed in the next decade could be achieved by improving nature’s ability to absorb emissions. 

Is the UN tackling climate and biodiversity together?

Climate change and biodiversity loss (as well as pollution) are part of an interlinked triple planetary crisis the world is facing today. They need to be tackled together if we are to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and secure a viable future on this planet.

The Earth is feeling the heat.

Governments deal with climate change and biodiversity through two different international agreements – the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), both established at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Similar to the historic Paris Agreement made in 2015 under the UNFCCC, parties to the Biodiversity Convention in December 2022 adopted an agreement for nature, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which succeeds the Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted in 2010.

The framework includes wide-ranging steps to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss worldwide, including climate change and pollution.

“An ambitious and effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework, with clear targets and benchmarks, can put nature and people back on track,” the UN Secretary-General said, adding that, “this framework should work in synergy with the Paris Agreement on climate change and other multilateral agreements on forests, desertification and oceans.”

In December 2022, governments met in Montreal, Canada to agree on the new framework to secure an ambitious and transformative global plan to set humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature.

“Delivering on the framework will contribute to the climate agenda, while full delivery of the Paris Agreement is needed to allow the framework to succeed,” said Inger Andersen, the head of the UN Environment Programme. “We can’t work in isolation if we are to end the triple planetary crises.”

Watch our interview with Elizabeth Mrema, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Read the UN Secretary-General’s speech at the Countdown to COP15: Leaders Event for a Nature-Positive World in September 2022, and his remarks at the December 2022 Biodiversity Conference and Press Conference.  

Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversity

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High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2022

The 2022 HLPF will hold in-depth reviews of five SDGs: 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), 14 (life below water), 15 (life on land), and 17 (partnerships for the Goals). 

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High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2022

5-15 JULY 2022 | New York City, US

The meeting of the HLPF in 2022 will be held from Tuesday, 5 July, to Thursday, 7 July, and from Monday, 11 July, to Friday, 15 July 2022 , under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Wednesday, 13 July, to Friday, 15 July 2022. The high-level segment of the Council will conclude with a final day on Monday, 18 July 2022.

The theme for the 2022 HLPF is “ Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ”.

As the world is struggling to recover from COVID-19 amidst continuing crises, the HLPF will reflect on how recovery policies can reverse the negative impacts of the pandemic on the SDGs and move countries on to a path to realize the vision of the 2030 Agenda.

The HLPF will also review in-depth Sustainable Development Goals 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals. It will take into account the different impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across all Sustainable Development Goals and the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Goals.

44 countries will carry out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . For more details, please click here.

The HLPF will adopt the Ministerial Declaration as the outcome of its session. The President of ECOSOC will also prepare a summary to capture the key messages of the discussions. For more information, click here

Other events, including Side Events, VNR Labs, Special Events, and Exhibition are being organized on the margins of the 2022 HLPF.

Learn more here: https://hlpf.un.org/2022

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UN Secretary-General's Video Message for “Bridge for Cities 2021”
"Bridge for Cities” is an annual event that aims to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development via the Belt and Road Initiative, with which it shares many similarities, and to encourage municipal officials and development stakeholders to scale up their engagement in inclusive and sustainable urban and industrial development initiatives.
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UN Secretary-General's Video Message for “Bridge for Cities 2021”

12 October 2021 

Watch the video here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/downloads2.unmultimedia.org/public/video/evergreen/MSG+SG+/SG+8+Oct+21/2666710_MSG+SG+BRIDGE+FOR+CITIES+08+OCT+21.mp4

VIDEO MESSAGE

I am pleased to greet the sixth “Bridge for Cities” event.

Cities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic — yet they are also demonstrating remarkable resilience and creative problem solving to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Many cities are rethinking urban spaces, making them more inclusive, sustainable, and safe;

establishing social protection measures to support women, vulnerable groups and young people;

inventing new ways to live, travel and work for a net zero emissions and resilient world;

providing financial assistance to local business and supporting job creation;

leveraging technology and digitalisation;

and strengthening public health and education systems.

Investment in recovery is a generational opportunity to put climate action, clean energy, gender equality and sustainable development at the heart of cities’ strategies and policies.

But cities cannot do it alone.

They need coordinated action from all levels of government;

strong partnerships with the private sector and civil society;

and the fiscal and policy space to bring solutions to scale.

They also need to be able to learn from each other.

That is why we launched the Local2030 Coalition – to identify innovations and help localize the SDGs.

The United Nations is committed to working with you.

Organizations such as UNIDO are providing platforms for cities to partner up.

Our Resident Coordinators and Country Teams can support your priorities, provide the expertise of our specialized agencies, and connect you with other global players.

Together, we can build bridges to an inclusive, sustainable recovery and clean, green cities for all.

Thank you.

Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sg/en/node/260045

​ Learn more here: https://www.unido.org/bridge-for-cities

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SDG Moment 2021

SDG Moment 2021

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The Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint for fighting poverty and hunger, confronting the climate crisis, achieving gender equality and much more, within the next ten years. At a time of great uncertainty, the SDGs show the way forward to a strong recovery from COVID-19 and a better future for all on a safe and healthy planet.

Overview

Convened by the UN Secretary-General, the second SDG Moment of the Decade of Action will be held virtually on Monday, 20 September 2021 from 9 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Background Note | Full Programme

Objectives

As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and major challenges to progress across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the SDG Moment will seek to: 

  1. Reinforce the continued relevance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and build momentum in advance of major summits and intergovernmental meetings.   
  2. Highlight urgent actions needed to ensure COVID-19 response and recovery efforts are equitable, inclusive and accelerate the transition to sustainable development.   
  3. Demonstrate that transformative change at scale is possible between now and 2030.  

The meeting will convene leaders from over 30 Member States as well as champions for the SDGs from civil society, the private sector and international partners. It will be accessible to everyone, everywhere through UN media channels including:

Stay tuned for announcements on speakers and special guests over the coming weeks here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-moment/

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United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021

Under the leadership of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN Food Systems Summit will take place on Thursday, 23 September 2021. It will be a completely virtual event during the UN General Assembly High-level Week.

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United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021

Details: 23 September 2021 | 09:00 to 18:00 EDT | New York - Virtual

Under the leadership of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN Food Systems Summit will take place on Thursday, 23 September 2021. It will be a completely virtual event during the UN General Assembly High-level Week.

The UN Food Systems Summit will serve as a historic opportunity to empower all people to leverage the power of food systems to drive our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and get us back on track to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Over the past 18 months, the Summit has brought together all UN Member States and constituencies around the world – including thousands of youth, food producers, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, researchers, private sector, and the UN system – to bring about tangible, positive changes to the world’s food systems. As a people’s summit and a solutions summit, it has recognized that everyone, everywhere must take action and work together to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food.

The Summit will culminate this inclusive global process, offering a catalytic moment for public mobilization and actionable commitments by heads of state and government and other constituency leaders to take this agenda forward. 

Through this people’s summit, the UN will reaffirm its commitment to promote human rights for all and ensure everyone, everywhere has the opportunity to participate. The event is open to all through its virtual programme and platform.

Join us at this event alongside leaders, experts and stakeholders from around the world. Together we can and must leverage the power of our food systems to achieve all of our shared goals for people, planet, and prosperity.

Note: Participants who registered for the Pre-Summit virtual platform in July do not need to register again for the Summit, as their existing profile will enable them continued access to the platform. If you have forgotten your login details or need to reset your password please visit our password reset page.

Register and read the guidance note here: https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/summit

Join the #FoodSystems4SDGs countdown to the Summit

Photo: Debdatta Chakraborty ©. Floating Island Vegetables, India - a winner of the Good Food For All photo competition.

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United Nations Secretary-General reappoints Michael R. Bloomberg of the United States Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions
5 February 2021 - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the reappointment of Michael R. Bloomberg of the United States as his Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions to mobilize stronger and more ambitious climate action in the lead-up to the critical Glasgow Climate Conference – COP 26 – in November 2021. 
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United Nations Secretary-General reappoints Michael R. Bloomberg of the United States Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions

New York, 5 February 2021 - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the reappointment of Michael R. Bloomberg of the United States as his Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions to mobilize stronger and more ambitious climate action in the lead-up to the critical Glasgow Climate Conference – COP 26 – in November 2021. 

Mr. Bloomberg will support the work of the Secretary-General in growing and strengthening the coalition of governments, companies, cities and financial institutions committing to net-zero before 2050 in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.  The Special Envoy will engage government officials and members of the private sector and civil society to finalize and implement plans, particularly in high-emitting countries, industries and sectors, to vastly accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. Mr. Bloomberg will leverage his deep experience and track record in accelerating the transition from coal to help deliver on the Secretary-General’s global call for the phase-out of coal in industrialized countries by 2030, and all other countries by 2040, underpinned by a just transition for affected communities and workers.

As Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, Mr. Bloomberg’s work will build on the outcomes of the 2019 Climate Action Summit and 2020 Climate Ambition Summit and will stress the Secretary-General's call to ensure that all measures to respond to the CoViD-19 pandemic are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.  

As founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and the 108th Mayor of New York City, Mr. Bloomberg is globally recognized for his work to accelerate climate action, including support for the Beyond Coal movement, which helped to catalyze momentum towards the clean energy transition in the United States and other countries, and America’s Pledge, an initiative to quantify and report the actions of U.S. states, cities, businesses and organizations, to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

In addition, Mr. Bloomberg also supports efforts of cities and mayors taking climate action at the local level.  He is the board president of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network of 97 major cities, and co-chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, a network of more than 10,000 cities and local governments.  He also currently serves as chair of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and at the Secretary-General’s request, formed the Climate Finance Leaders Initiative in 2019.

Mr. Bloomberg is a graduate of John Hopkins University and Harvard Business School and is co-author of Climate of Hope:  How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet.

Retrieved from https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sga2019.doc.htm

Photo of Michael Bloomberg: AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group//Denver Post via Getty Images

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United Nations Comprehensive Response to COVID-19: Saving Lives, Protecting Societies, Recovering Better (September 2020)
Now, six months since the pandemic was declared, we issue this updated, comprehensive overview of the UN system response. The overview recounts our key guidance, lessons, and support in the first six months of the pandemic – and points the way to the crucial steps that must follow to save lives, protect societies and recover better, leaving no one behind and addressing the very fragilities and gaps that made us so vulnerable in the first place. It also points the way toward addressing future shocks – above all from climate change – and toward overcoming the severe and systemic inequalities that have been so tragically exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic.
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Over the course of 2020, the coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, infected millions of people, upended the global economy and cast a dark shadow across our future. No country has been spared. No population group remains unscathed. Nobody is immune to its impacts.

From the outset of the pandemic, the United Nations system mobilized early and comprehensively. It led on the global health response, provided life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable, established instruments for rapid responses to the socio-economic impact and laid out a broad policy agenda for action on all fronts. It also provided logistics, common services and operational support to governments and other partners around the world on the front lines of the pandemic, as they mounted national responses to this new virus and unprecedented global challenge.

It became clear early on that the pandemic was more than a health crisis; it is a socio-economic crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a security crisis, and a human rights crisis. It has affected us as individuals, as families, communities and societies. It has had an impact on every generation, including on those not yet born. The crisis has highlighted fragilities within and among nations, as well as in our systems for mounting a coordinated global response to shared threats. Our response will therefore also need to engender a deep reflection on the very structures of societies, both nationally and internationally, and the ways in which countries cooperate for the common good. Coming out of this crisis will require a whole-of-society, whole-of-government and whole-of-the-world approach driven by compassion and solidarity.

A THREE-POINT UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM RESPONSE

The United Nations response to COVID-19 and its impact has three overarching components:

  1. A large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive health response, guided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which aims to mobilize all sectors and communities in the response, control and suppression of the transmission of the virus, reduce mortality by providing care for those affected, and develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics that can be delivered at scale and that are accessible based on need. A world where COVID-19 is no longer a threat to humanity requires the most massive public health effort in history, that recognizes universal access to health as a critical global public good. Part of this response is a new global collaboration – the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator – the aim of which is to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. The UN has also provided international coordination and operational support at the global, regional and country level, and supported the scaling up of country preparedness and response operations.
  2. A wide-ranging effort to safeguard lives and livelihoods by addressing the devastating near-term socio-economic, humanitarian and human rights aspects of the crisis with attention to those hit hardest. The focus is on saving lives, keeping vital services accessible, households afloat, businesses solvent, supply chains functioning, institutions strong, public services delivering and human rights at the forefront. This is achieved through immediate humanitarian support to the hardest-hit population in the most vulnerable 63 countries with life-saving assistance through a Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP), as well as support to more than 120 countries for an immediate socio-economic response guided by the UN development system framework. At the global level, it includes the policy agenda contained in the series of policy briefs, as well as strong advocacy for support to developing countries, including a debt standstill, debt restructuring and greater support through the international financial institutions. Preventing and responding to the increased levels of violence against women and girls is also a critical feature.
  3. A transformative recovery process that leads to a better post-COVID-19 world by addressing underlying fragilities and identifying opportunities for transformative change towards more just, equal and resilient societies and economies. Emerging from this crisis is an opportunity to address the climate crisis, inequalities, exclusion, gaps in social protection systems and the many other injustices that have been exposed and exacerbated. Instead of going back to unsustainable systems and approaches, we need to transition to renewable energy, sustainable food systems, gender equality, stronger social safety nets, universal health coverage and an international system that can deliver consistently, effectively and universally – with the Sustainable Development Agenda as our guide.

Read the full report here: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un-comprehensive-response-to-covid-19.pdf

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Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond - Meeting of Heads of State and Government
Canada, Jamaica and the United Nations Secretary-General will convene a Meeting of Heads of State and Government to take stock and consider bold choices that now need to be made to secure our common future. The objective of the meeting is to consider the menu of policy options developed over the last four months with the ambition of supporting Member States in responding and recovering from the current global crisis. 
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Event: Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond: Meeting of Heads of State and Government

Date and Time: Tuesday, 29 September 2020 – 8:00 am to 12:00 pm EDT 

Canada, Jamaica, and the United Nations Secretary-General will convene a Meeting of Heads of State and Government to take stock and consider bold choices that now need to be made to secure our common future. The objective of the meeting is to consider the menu of policy options developed over the last four months with the ambition of supporting Member States in responding and recovering from the current global crisis. 

On 28 May 2020, Canada, Jamaica, and the Secretary-General convened a High-Level Event to join forces with Heads of State and Government, international organizations, and other key partners to enable discussions of concrete financing solutions to the COVID-19 health and development emergency for everyone. In follow up, six Discussions Groups were convened. The result is a single, ambitious menu of options addressing policies for the short, medium, and long term. The menu of policy options is not a negotiated document and reflects a wide array of perspectives and priorities. 

The ambition and partnership embedded in this effort will feed into and mobilize action at high-level meetings such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings and the G20 Leaders’ Summit, in October and November, respectively. 

Format of the meeting 

Following opening remarks by the United Nations Secretary-General and the Prime Ministers of Canada and Jamaica, the work of the six Discussion Groups and outcomes of the Ministerial meeting will be presented. Heads of State and Government and High-Level speakers of the international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society, and selected experts, will intervene. After the announcement of next steps, the meeting will conclude with closing remarks from the co-conveners.

The meeting will be webcast through http://webtv.un.org 

For more information: Please visit the event website: https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/financing-development  

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