SDGs far off track — but it’s not too late
Halfway through the timeline of the 2030 Agenda, we are leaving more than half the world behind.
Poverty and hunger are again growing. The climate crisis is escalating.
Conflict and persecution have forced one hundred million people from their homes.
And the economic destruction and dislocation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic was prolonged and amplified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The cost of food, energy and finance has risen sharply, with a devastating impact on vulnerable countries and communities. Inequalities and gender discrimination are on the rise.
The Sustainable Development Goals — our only comprehensive solution to these crises — are far off track. We have gone into reverse on more than 30 percent of SDG targets — including our most fundamental goals of reducing poverty and hunger.
Progress on another 50 percent is weak and insufficient. But it is not too late to turn the tide.
And we are determined to do just that. The SDG Stimulus, the proposed reforms of the global financial architecture, the Acceleration Agenda on climate, the Transforming Education Summit, Food Systems transformation, the Global Digital Compact, the Global Accelerator on Social Protection and Jobs, the Black Sea Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding on promoting Russian food and fertilizers to global markets — all these initiatives are aimed at reducing poverty, inequality and hunger, and getting the 2030 Agenda back on course. The transformative vision of the 2030 Agenda relies on a global partnership and unprecedented investment. But that investment has not been forthcoming.
Many developing countries simply cannot afford to invest in the SDGs because they face a financing abyss. The annual SDG funding gap stood at $2.5 trillion before the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the OECD, it now stands at some 4.2 trillion.
Developed countries adopted expansionary fiscal and monetary policies and have now largely returned to their pre-pandemic trajectory of economic growth. Developing countries have been hobbled by their inability to do the same. Vulnerable middle income countries are denied debt relief and concessional financing; and the Common Framework for Debt Treatment is not yet effectively working. If they go to the markets, developing countries may be charged interest rates up to eight times higher than their developed counterparts.
It is clear that something is seriously wrong with the rules and governance structures that produce these results.
I have therefore called for an SDG Stimulus — an emergency measure to scale up affordable long-term financing for all countries in need, by at least 500 billion dollars a year.
At the same time, we are working on long-term proposals to right the fundamental injustices and inequalities in global financial architecture which reflect the global realities of 78 years ago.
Development coordination saves lives by eradicating poverty and preventing humanitarian crises.
Countries are spending more than two trillion dollars a year on military budgets.
The SDG Summit in September must be a moment of unity to provide a renewed impetus and accelerated action for achieving the SDGs.
It must deliver concrete progress on the means of implementation and a clear commitment to overhaul the current international financial architecture.
The next weeks and months are an important opportunity to prepare the ground. This will be the most important initiative of the 2023 calendar.
We have made significant progress, but we still have a way to go. Together, we can create a more sustainable and equitable future for all people, everywhere.
Excerpts from the Secretary-General’s remarks to the 2023 ECOSOC Operational Activities for the Development Segment, 23 May 2023.
“We have gone into reverse on more than 30 percent of SDG targets — including our most fundamental goals of reducing poverty and hunger.