[Video Message]
Plenary: `Sustainable Development through Integrated Action`
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
I¡¯m pleased to address the 2025 World Sustainable Development Summit. I thank The Energy and Resources Institute for this opportunity.
We meet at a critical juncture. In 2024, global temperatures surpassed 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time ¨C it¡¯s a stark warning. Current policies project a catastrophic 3.1-degree rise by the end of the century.
Meanwhile, only 17% of SDG targets are on track, and one-third have stalled or regressed.
The Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergies, co-convened by UN DESA and UNFCCC, confirms that tackling climate change and sustainable development in isolation is counterproductive.
We must integrate and coordinate our efforts. Climate change, poverty, and inequality are deeply interconnected, demanding holistic, cross-sectoral solutions. This is why strengthening multilateral cooperation is more urgent than ever before.
UN DESA remains committed to working with Member States, international organizations, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders, to drive meaningful action and advance innovative solutions.
Our success hinges on leveraging synergies and managing trade-offs. The Climate and SDG Synergy Conferences have demonstrated how climate action is central to achieving the SDGs.
The Global Stocktake at COP28 highlighted the critical need to align climate ambitions with sustainable development.
The Pact for the Future reinforces our shared responsibility -- to act with purpose and urgency.
The establishment of the new climate finance goal at COP29 marked a positive step forward -- but collectively, we have to do more to ensure these commitments translate into concrete, scaled-up investments in developing countries.
2025 presents key opportunities for accelerated actions:
? The 6th Global Synergies Conference will catalyze integrated solutions for climate and sustainable development.
? The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development will provide an opportunity to mobilize resources at scale.
? The next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submissions will be critical in setting the ambition for the decade ahead.
? And at COP30 in Bel¨¦m, we must ensure the global community delivers bold commitments to advance climate justice, just energy transitions, and sustainable development.
Similarly, the Ocean Conference has reinforced the urgency of marine sustainability, recognizing that a healthy planet depends on healthy oceans.
However, more is needed. Rising emissions and slow progress on SDGs demand urgent, coordinated action. National development and climate policies must be strengthened, financing scaled up, and solutions made inclusive -- ensuring no one is left behind.
The UN stands ready to support countries in integrating the SDGs into national development and climate policies through its policy analysis and capacity-building support.
Together, we can accelerate SDG achievement, combat climate change, and build a resilient, equitable future for all.
Thank you.