The United Nations wants to revive its sustainability goals today. A group of states around Russia has announced that it will block statements. Chancellor Scholz will also speak in New York.
Before the start of the summit on the UN sustainability goals, a letter from a group of states around Russia is causing unrest. In the letter, eleven countries announced a blockade of several declarations that are to be adopted by the global community this week.
This includes a text that was intended to reaffirm the United Nations’ sustainability goals today. UN Secretary-General António Guterres had spoken of a “quantum leap” to revitalize the development goals, which had fallen behind schedule.
In addition to Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe signed the letter available to the German Press Agency.
Criticism: Sanctions hinder developments
In the letter, the countries complain about sanctions to which the states are subject and which harm their development. During the negotiations on the four declarations – which also concern the topics of pandemic preparedness, health care and the fight against tuberculosis – “the legitimate concerns of a large number of developing countries were ignored.” Russia was hit with a series of punitive measures for its invasion of Ukraine. It is unclear how the other countries will react to the letter and whether acceptance of the declarations is in danger.
Scholz and Zelenskyj are expected
Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also speak at the summit on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which begins in the afternoon. For the second year in a row, the SPD politician is taking part in the general debate at the UN General Assembly in New York, which starts on Tuesday and lasts a week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is also expected to arrive in Manhattan today, is also eagerly awaited.
U.N-Sustainability goals still far from achieved
In 2015, the United Nations set central goals for global development with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to improve education and end hunger and extreme poverty by 2030.
But the corona pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a debt crisis in poor countries have set back the achievement of the goals extremely: If things continue as before, according to the UN, there will still be 575 million people in severe poverty in 2030 and more than 600 million live in hunger. According to the UN, only 15 percent of all resolutions formulated are on track.
Reform of the global financial structure takes center stage
The Sustainability Summit is also the mid-term review of the SDGs. UN chief Guterres is expected to again call for a plan to save them. The focus is on reforming the international financial structure, which is intended to enable poor countries to obtain cheaper loans from the World Bank, among others.
The UN is calling for an SDG stimulus of at least $500 billion annually and a debt structure that allows payment holidays, longer loan terms and lower interest rates. Concessions from the industrialized nations seem possible given that the West is increasingly vying with China and Russia for the favor of developing countries.
The summit precedes the official start of the UN General Assembly’s general debate, where more than 140 heads of state and government will speak for over a week from Tuesday.
Climate activists protest against energy policy and the use of fossil fuels on Madison Avenue in New York.
Protests for more climate protection
Shortly before the United Nations General Assembly, tens of thousands of people in New York called for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.
Demonstrators called on US President Joe Biden to do more to protect the climate and to declare a climate emergency. They pointed to the major fires, floods, storms and heat waves of recent months.
Biden’s administration has pushed through climate legislation and is working to transition the country to wind, solar and other renewable energy. But it also issued permits for new oil and gas drilling – which also angered supporters who are calling for all fossil fuel extraction to be blocked.