Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
at the Joint GA-ECOSOC Special Thematic Event on the Midterm Review of the Doha Programme of Action for LDCs
GA Hall, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ HQ, New York
24 June 2026
[As Delivered]
Mr. President of the Economic and Social Council,
Ms. Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,
Least Developed Countries face deep structural vulnerabilities, which they cannot overcome by themselves.
They account for 13 percent of the world¡¯s population, yet only about 1.3 percent of global GDP.
Over 510 million people in LDCs, or 42 percent of their population, people, live in extreme poverty.
And disaster-related mortality in LDCs is almost three times the global average.
These are the types of challenges that the Doha Programme of Action was designed to address.
Through it, Member States committed to support the 44 Least Developed Countries in building resilience, expanding productive capacity, and progressing toward sustainable development and graduation from LDC status.
The upcoming Midterm Review in Doha next March is a critical opportunity to assess progress, renew political commitment, address implementation gaps, and agree on practical solutions for the second half of this Decade of Action.
Because delivering for LDCs is not an act of charity.
It is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals we all agreed upon, strengthening shared prosperity, and ensuring that no country or community is left behind.
Because as we have seen in recent months, an economic shock or vulnerability in one part of the world echoes across all others, and often hits LDCs the hardest.
Just take the recent disruptions in global energy markets which have caused sharp increases in the prices of fuel, transport, and trade worldwide.
Some countries could counter that with financial support to their citizens, others couldn¡¯t.
And the most vulnerable bear the greatest burden.
For millions of people in LDCs, higher fuel prices mean transportation is simply no longer affordable, meaning not being able to go to work.
Disruptions to supply chains and increased fertilizer costs further jeopardize their food security, meaning children are living in hunger again.
And governments are forced to spend more money on import costs, leaving less for education, infrastructure, and social services, meaning less healthcare and less school opportunities for children.
That is why today¡¯s focus on energy security for LDCs is so important.
Even before recent shocks, only 60 percent of people living in LDCs had access to electricity.
Most LDCs remain highly dependent on imported fossil fuels, leaving their economies vulnerable to price volatility and supply disruptions.
Yet, at the same time, many LDCs are placing renewable energy, electrification, and efficiency at the center of their national energy strategies and NDCs.
This creates a tremendous opportunity: with scaled-up concessional finance, de-risked investment, and simplified access to climate finance, LDCs can leapfrog toward cleaner, more resilient, and more decentralized energy systems.
But this means that they have to have these opportunities, this means that we have to deliver on what we agreed upon in the Sevilla Compromise.
For LDCs, affordable, reliable, and sustainable modern energy is about far more than keeping the lights on.
It is the foundation of structural transformation, productive capacity, and climate resilience.
In short, energy security is sustainable development in practice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Your excellencies,
LDCs cannot unlock their full development potential without stronger global partnership and commitment.
Nor can the international community achieve the Sustainable Development Goals while LDCs are left behind.
The upcoming Midterm Review is our opportunity to align the Doha Programme of Action with the 2030 Agenda, the Pact for the Future, and the Sevilla Commitment.
But above all, it is our opportunity to turn promises into implementation.
To translate commitments into investments.
To turn partnerships into measurable results.
And to ensure that the second half of this Decade of Action delivers real progress for the 44 LDCs, and, above all, for the hundreds of millions of people, for the millions of children, whose futures depend on our collective action.
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