Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to be part of this timely Symposium on “Multilateralism Matters to Business”.
I thank the All in UN75 Initiative and the International Organization of Employers – under the auspices of the Business and Industry Major Group to the United Nations – for organizing this important discussion.
Five years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement, we are not on track to build a world we want by 2030.
The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc across countries and exposing vulnerabilities, especially those of the poorest and the most marginalized. As a result, tens of millions of people are at risk of being pushed into extreme poverty, reversing the declining global trend observed for more than 20 years.
An additional 10 million children throughout the world could face acute malnutrition, and the number of people facing acute food insecurity could reach 265 million. Moreover, across the globe, education has come to a halt for many children. School closures are affecting over 90 per cent of the world’s student population, or almost 1.6 billion children and youth.
This ongoing human crisis has also amplified the widening discrepancies between public resources and financing needs. Meanwhile, the problems of global public and private debts are worsening. Recent evidence shows that Foreign Direct Investment in-flows into the African continent are projected to decline between 25 and 40 per cent in 2020.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The dire challenges we face call for bold leadership from both the public and private sectors to help societies recover better – using the SDGs as a common roadmap.
Our recovery should be centered around efforts to transition to a greener, low carbon world. And on improving systems for ensuring universal well-being, reducing inequalities, and on achieving the SDGs.
To this end, the private sector can play vital roles in providing significant financial, technological and knowledge resources. Businesses around the world are also well positioned to offer innovative solutions to the strains that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed, on global supply chains.
For example, firms can collaborate with governments to provide economic cushions to employees, when the global unemployment rates are rising towards historical highs.
Furthermore, the private sector can join advocacy efforts in support of multilateral actions to tackle insurmountable challenges at hand – especially for the most vulnerable.
Businesses – in the age of cross-border investment, trade and tax cooperation – can also help stem the tide of protectionist national policies that would pose threats to human rights, policy coherence and global partnerships. Yet, such efforts should be carried out in full respect of country ownership and government leadership, and apart from business interest alone.
Distinguished colleagues,
My Department, UN DESA, has been engaging the private sector stakeholders in various policy discussions and joint actions. This is with a view to encourage the alignment of their corporate strategies with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
The upcoming 2020 SDG Business Forum, to be held a week from now (next Wednesday), will be another opportunity for us to explore how we may achieve these important Agendas by working together. I strongly encourage you all to actively participate in the meeting and make the most of it.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As we prepare to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, we count on you and all business partners around the world to step up efforts to recover better together, and advance the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.
The United Nations remains committed to working with you to strengthen multilateral collaboration and global partnerships for sustainable development.
I look forward to hearing your plans and ideas on the way ahead. I wish you all an inspiring meeting.
Thank you!