Remarks by the President of the General Assembly H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis
On the Grand Opening of the 8th?World Investment Forum
Monday, 16 October 2023 (Abu Dhabi)
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Your Excellencies, the Heads of State and Government,
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵCTAD Secretary-General, Ms. Rebecca Grynspan,
Honorable Ministers,
Excellencies,
It is my pleasure to address the 8th World Investment Forum ¨C and I applaud its focus on the critical need to invest in sustainability.
Today,
– Over 800 million people live in extreme poverty.
– 2.4 billion people are facing acute food insecurity.
– And an astounding 59 countries are experiencing a debt crisis, spending more on debt servicing than on education, health, and other essential social services.
At the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we are confronted by the need to rapidly reverse under-performance.
Paramount among them is the dramatic scaling up of financing to achieve the SDGs.
The shortfalls are most glaring for developing countries, which face a staggering $4 trillion annual SDGs financing gap.
Excellencies,
We know that the funds to finance the SDGs exist.
The value of the sustainable finance market ¨C green bonds, social bonds, and ESG funds ¨C has grown significantly in recent years, to a total of nearly $6 trillion.
And yet, more than 30 of the developing countries have yet to attract a single large renewable energy project since the landmark adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
We simply must do more to flip the dominant paradigm.
Closing the gap is not simply about providing resources. It is about enhancing productive capacities, especially for countries in special situations ¨C the least developed countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing States.
It is also about creating opportunities for education.
And advancing gender equality, so that women and men, placed on equal footing, can harness the benefits of the growth in value chains; the rise in digital trade and equally benefit from the digital transformation.
These are not just challenges for some countries. They are common challenges for us all ¨C from North to South, East to West.
Excellencies,
As the political declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit makes clear, bold actions are needed ¨C notably through the SDG Stimulus and for the urgent reform of the global financial system.
The call for sustainable development is not a mere choice.
It is an urgent necessity to rescue our planet; to uplift our societies from hardship; and to interject resilience in our economies so that they have the capacity to support future generations.
Let us summon the courage ¨C and conviction ¨C to close the gaps:
– to scale up financing for development and sustainable investments,
– to treat technology as a global public good, and
– to place people at the very center of all that we do in the name of sustainable development.
The key is to boost financial flows and effectively allocate resources across the high impact sectors of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs ¨C from water and sanitation to health, education and importantly, food security.
Our 2030 aspirations for the meaningful participation of all people in the global economy demand nothing less.
This is why the General Assembly is exploring the recommendation by the Secretary-General on beyond GDP and application of the multidimensional vulnerability index – a metric that evaluates holistic well-being in terms of social, economic and environmental sustainability.
I urge Member States, the private sector, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ entities, international financial institutions, and all stakeholders to take concerted action on multiple fronts to close the glaring financing and digital divide.
Let me close by underscoring that the World Investment Forum is a timely follow-up to the outcomes of the SDG Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development last month.
I therefore wish you fruitful dialogue and look forward to benefiting from the outcomes of your deliberations.
I thank you.