Her Excellency, Ms. Paula Narváez, President of ECOSOC,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Excellencies,

We meet at a critical time when only 17 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets are on track to be achieved. With only 6 years to 2030, it is evident that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development in many developing countries are lagging behind, which increasingly threatens our collective commitment to leave no one or country behind. Developing countries continue to face multiple challenges, in particular elevated debt burdens, limited fiscal space and adverse impacts of climate change which undermine their efforts to achieve the 17 SDGs.

The G77 and China emphasizes that we must prioritize advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda by translating the commitments agreed upon during the 2023 SDG Summit Political Declaration into concrete actions that fully support developing countries in their efforts to achieve the SDGs. We call for strengthened international cooperation, multilateralism, and international solidarity at all levels as the best way to address the global challenges that we are facing and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 agenda. We must uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in the pursuit to achieve sustainable development.

Excellencies,

The Group reaffirms that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions including extreme poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an overarching objective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. We believe that the eradication of poverty will contribute to the achievement of the other SDGs given its interlinkages.

Excellencies

The Group stresses the importance of providing and mobilizing adequate means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Group calls upon developed countries to fulfil their previous commitments and agree to a new phase of international cooperation through a strengthened and scaled-up global partnership for development. The Group notes with concern the increasing financing gap in the SDGs funding. The Group emphasizes that achieving the SDGs requires new, additional, quality, adequate, sustainable, and predictable financing. In this context, we stress that the Addis Ababa Action Agenda is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda. We call for its full, timely and effective implementation which is critical for the realization of the SDGs and their targets and look forward to the fourth International Conference for Financing for Development scheduled in Spain in 2025 to assess its progress and address the current and emerging financing challenges.

The Group reaffirms the need to ensure that developing countries have the necessary fiscal space for recovery and achieving the SDGs. This would require measures, including inter alia: urgent reform of the international financial architecture; fulfilment of ODA commitments by developed countries; access to concessional finance by all developing countries, in particular low- and middle-income countries; debt treatment; enhanced financing mechanisms including innovative financing; combating illicit financial flows that drain resources from developing countries; addressing the unilateral coercive measures; establishment of measures of progress on sustainable development that complement or go beyond GDP; strengthening international tax cooperation as well as increase FDI flows to the Global South.

Excellencies,

The Group stresses the importance of fully implementing the Secretary General's proposal for the SDG Stimulus for developing countries to tackle the high cost of debt and rising risks of debt distress, to enhance support to developing countries and to massively scale up affordable long-term financing for development and expand contingency financing to countries in need. We call on developed countries and international financial institutions to take the necessary actions to implement the SDG Stimulus in a timely manner.

In conclusion, the Group reiterates its commitment towards the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda. We urge the international community, particularly the developed countries to provide the required means of implementation to support developing countries to adequately address the challenges they face in their efforts to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

I thank you.