Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
Thank you all for joining today. An especially warm welcome to those of you who have travelled to New York to be part of this important event and the 2023 SDG Summit.
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Tsinghua University and UN Water for their invaluable partnership in co-organizing this side event with UN DESA.
We hope that this event can serve as a platform to highlight the importance of industrial sustainability. It fosters collaboration between academia, the UN system and private sector, that can drive transformative action and the achievement of the SDGs.
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tomorrow’s SDG Summit signals the halfway point in the timeline set for implementing the 2030 Agenda and achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
But, at this crucial juncture, we find ourselves faltering. Progress on almost 85 per cent of SDG targets is insufficient, stalled or regressed.
For Goal 9, on industry, innovation, and infrastructure, less than 30 per cent of assessable targets are on track or met. We are missing the mark on sustainable and inclusive industrialization and need greater progress in our pursuit of resilient infrastructure. Targets in these areas are largely stalled or in regression.
We must reverse these trends.
Industrial sustainability is a central piece of our efforts to achieve the SDGs and push back the climate catastrophe.
Global carbon emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes reached a record high of 36. 8 billion metric tons in 2022. This is unacceptable in a world gripped by record-breaking temperatures, roaring wildfires and widespread extreme weather events.
It is easy to lose heart in the face of such daunting circumstances.
But we must press forward, in the spirit of international solidarity, not simply with a dream and a hope, but with a focus on what we know works, and with a determination to amplify and accelerate what works to achieve what is possible.
Our gathering today, with top experts from academia, CEOs of world-leading companies, and dedicated principals and representatives from the UN system, suggests that we are ready to meet the challenge.
We must focus on where progress has been made, such as the decade-long trend of decoupling economic growth from growth in emissions. We must build on this and invest in research and development in greening industry and the economy.
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tomorrow’s SDG Summit must signal the start of a new phase – a phase where we accelerate our efforts, recommit to the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, and scale up the actions needed to achieve them.
Your expertise, resources, and commitment are essential to the transformative changes we are determined to achieve in the remaining seven years.
In the spirit of this SDG Action Weekend, I call on all of you to take ownership of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs and act with urgency in delivering our collective promise. Change takes everyone.
I look forward to a productive and insightful discussion today.
Thank you.