UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development
Statement by Miriam Shearman, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva during the high level policy segment of the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development.
Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and action and delivery on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region
Thank you very much, Chair.
In this ‘Decade of Action,’ it is critical to accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The United Kingdom, as current G7 President and the host of COP26, is committed to reinforcing global efforts to advance the SDGs. COVID-19 has of course made progress harder – but much more necessary. It has given us the chance to reset, and to build our recovery on solid foundations; including a fairer, greener and more resilient global economy.
Despite some positive progress, most of the SDGs were off track before the pandemic, and we have seen the situation worsen. The World Bank estimates that the pandemic could push as many as 150 million people into extreme poverty this year. The UK has committed up to £1.3bn of new ODA to counter the health, humanitarian, and socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, and to support the global effort to find and distribute vaccines. The UK’s Integrated Review of Defence, Security and Foreign Policy, which was published yesterday, sets out our continued commitment to the fight against poverty and our intention to remain a leading international development donor.
The UK’s priorities as G7 President and host of COP26 include increased commitment to adaptation and resilience; putting climate risk at the centre of decision-making; making climate finance more accessible; and addressing the urgent and linked challenges of public health, climate change, and biodiversity loss. On 31 March, the UK will host a Climate and Development Ministerial, bringing countries and other partners together to assess the challenges and priorities for implementing Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement. We encourage countries to seize this opportunity, and to develop green, inclusive and resilient recovery plans.
COVID-19 has also presented new challenges for financing and measuring global progress against the SDGs. The OECD estimates that the annual financing gap could have increased by up to 70%, to $4.2 trillion for developing countries alone. It is vital we work closely with the private sector and financial institutions to meet this need.
The pandemic has made it all the more critical for us to understand and monitor inequalities in SDG progress. In 2020, the UK Office for National Statistics overcame new challenges to data collection, and continued its focus on inclusive and disaggregated SDG data by gender and age, shedding new light on under-examined groups.
Recovery from COVID-19 cannot and will not mean a return to business as usual. Governments, businesses and civil society must work together to lay the foundation for a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future. And that’s why today’s discussion is so important, and so timely.
Thank you, Chair.