NEW YORK –Through his delegate
As part of
his unrivalled commitment to sustainable development at global level, HE Dr.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh took part in the 2025 High
Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), held under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York.
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh has been
relentlessly working on achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs)
through his involvement in the United Nations and as the Honorary President of the
New York-based Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU). The United Nations' 17 SDGs address various international challenges including
poverty, climate change and creating a better future for people and the planet
by 2030.
The Forum was attended by over
6000 participants, including ministers and other high officials, stakeholders
representatives, wide-ranging experts and scientists and other major
civil society groups.
Voluntary national reviews of
progress on SDGs were conducted for 13 countries and 187 side events and
exhibitions were organized by various stakeholders.
In a 'Report on the Impacts of
Long-Term trends on the achievement of the SDGs', the UN Secretary
General, Mr. António
Guterres, identified five key trends impacting the SDGs: the
negative impact of geo-political tensions on the global economy, the
changing labor markets and their increasing digitization, rapid technological
change with its positive impacts as well as associated risks, the adverse
impacts of accelerating climate change, and the evolving nature of
the social contract.
The Report indicates
that in the last five years the world economy has experienced the weakest
growth in over 30 years and the projections for the next five years indicate a
further slowdown. More than 80 percent of the countries have experienced
a slump in their growth. Average growth has slowed in developed countries
to 1.3 percent and in developing countries to 4 percent.
The current decade may thus
turn out to be a lost one for the world economy. The report also states that
‘World trade is also growing at a slower pace with governments
imposing some 3000 new restrictive trade measures in 2022 as compared to
fewer than 1000 such measures in 2019.’
On the other hand and despite
the economic challenges referred to in the report, significant progress has
been made in global health, education and sustainability. According to the
report, new HIV infections have fallen by 40 percent since 2010 and malaria
prevention has saved 12 million lives.
The report also stated that
‘only 35 percent of the SDGs are on track and 18 percent have regressed.’
The HLPF concluded with the
adoption of a Ministerial Declaration by a vote of 154 for and 2 against (the
US and Israel) which calls for urgent, coordinated actions by all
stakeholders to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
The Forum also affirmed that
the need for multilateral cooperation and fundamental reform of the international
system remains urgent.