The 193-Member United Nations General Assembly formally adopted the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with a set of bold new Global
Goals, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed as a universal,
integrated and transformative vision for a better world. "The new
agenda is a promise by leaders to all people everywhere. It is an agenda
for people, to end poverty in all its forms - an agenda for the planet,
our common home," declared Mr. Ban as he opened the UN Sustainable Development Summit which kicked off today and wraps up Sunday.
The UN chief's address came ahead of the Assembly's formal adoption of
the new framework, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, which is composed of 17 goals and 169 targets
to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the
next 15 years. The Goals aim to build on the work of the historic
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which in September 2000, rallied
the world around a common 15-year agenda to tackle the indignity of
poverty.
The Summit opened with a full programme of events, including a screening
of the film "The Earth From Space", performances by UN Goodwill
Ambassadors Shakira and Angelique Kidjo, as well as call to action by
female education advocate and the youngest-ever Nobel Laureate, Malala
Yousafzai along with youth representatives as torch bearers to a
sustainable future. The adoption ceremony was presided over by Danish
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta
Museveni, who stressed the successes of the MDGSs and the need for the
full implementation of the new Agenda.
Speaking to the press after the adoption of the Agenda, Mr. Ban said: "These
Goals are a blueprint for a better future. Now we must use the goals to
transform the world. We will do that through partnership and through
commitment. We must leave no-one behind." In his opening address to
the Assembly, which also marks the Organization's 70th anniversary, the
UN chief hailed the new framework as an agenda for shared prosperity,
peace and partnership. "It conveys the urgency of climate action. It is rooted in gender equality and respect for the rights of all."
Mr. Ban urged the world leaders and others convened at the event to
successfully implement the Global Goals or Agenda 30 by launching
'renewed global partnership'. "The 2030 Agenda compels us to look
beyond national boundaries and short-term interests and act in
solidarity for the long-term. We can no longer afford to think and work
in silos. Institutions will have to become fit for a grand new purpose.
The United Nations system is strongly committed to supporting Member
States in this great new endeavour," said Mr. Ban. "We must
engage all actors, as we did in shaping the Agenda. We must include
parliaments and local governments, and work with cities and rural areas.
We must rally businesses and entrepreneurs. We must involve civil
society in defining and implementing policies - and give it the space to
hold us to account. We must listen to scientists and academia. We will
need to embrace a data revolution. Most important, we must set to work -
now," added the Secretary-General. "Seventy years ago, the
United Nations rose from the ashes of war. Governments agreed on a
visionary Charter dedicated to 'We the Peoples'. The Agenda you are
adopting today advances the goals of the Charter. It embodies the
aspirations of people everywhere for lives of peace, security and
dignity on a healthy planet," said Mr. Ban.
General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft called the 2030 Agenda on
Sustainable Development "ambitious" in confronting the injustices of
poverty, marginalization and discrimination. "We recognize the need
to reduce inequalities and to protect our common home by changing
unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. And, we identify
the overwhelming need to address the politics of division, corruption
and irresponsibility that fuel conflict and hold back development," he
said. On the adoption of the new agenda, UN Economic and Social Council
President (ECOSOC) Oh Joon said action on Sustainable Development Goals
must start immediately. "The Economic and Social Council stands ready to kick-start the work on the new agenda," he added.