NEW YORK
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that only 35% of sustainable development goals are on track to achieve their targets or are making reasonable progress, while 18% are going in reverse.
In his speech at the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals 2025 report, Guterres reminded that 10 years have passed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Pointing out that millions of people have gained access to electricity, clean cooking facilities and the internet since 2015, Guterres said that social protection has reached more than half of the world’s population, which is a huge increase compared to 10 years ago.
The head of the UN shared that access to education continues to increase and more girls are attending school, while child marriages have decreased.
He said renewable energy capacity has increased under the leadership of developing countries, adding: “Women’s representation is rising across governments, businesses and societies.”
However, he stressed that they are not where they should be.
“We are in a global development emergency,” Guterres said, noting that more than 800 million people still live in extreme poverty, climate impacts are increasing, and endless debt repayments are depleting the resources countries need to invest in their people.
Guterres pointed out that there is a deep linkage between ending conflicts and development and said that conflicts such as in Gaza and Ukraine should be ended.
He said that despite these challenges, the report they launched shows the way forward, presenting roadmaps for transformation in the areas of food, energy, digital access, education, employment, and climate.
The UN chief said progress is not possible without large-scale financing, and countries should have access to more finance at lower costs through reform of the international financial architecture, concrete steps towards debt relief and tripling the lending capacity of multilateral development banks.
Guterres said sustainable development goals can still be achieved, “but only if we act with urgency, unity and an unwavering resolve.”
