On Wednesday, SANTIAGO, Chile, CMC – The United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina J. Mohammed, told the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that while the global community has reached the halfway point to the 2030 Agenda, “we are badly off track.
“The Sixth progress report on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean shows that our progress towards the SDGs has faltered and even backtracked on some important targets and Goals, leaving countless people behind,” Mohammed told the Forum.
She said the meeting here occurred at a “critical juncture” for the SDGs.
“In the region, and in the context of a post-COVID triple planetary crisis, low growth and deepening vulnerabilities to climate change, only 25 percent of SDG targets are projected to be met in 2030.
The SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
According to the UN, the 17 SDGs are integrated, recognizing that action in one area will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Countries have committed to prioritizing progress for those who are furthest behind. The SDGs are also designed to end poverty, hunger, AIDS, and discrimination against women and girls.
But Mohammed told the Forum that the cost-of-living crisis and food prices are increasing the risk of food insecurity and access to a healthy diet.
“Fiscal space and debt burdens are often unsustainable for the region’s middle-income countries and small island developing states.
“Climate-related catastrophes, wildfires, droughts, flooding, and other natural disasters, coupled with biodiversity loss, are rising, further aggravating social-economic challenges and threatening the region’s sustainable development. ”
She said that the current crises have also had disproportionate effects on migrants.
“While the pandemic temporarily halted migration flows owing to border closures and mobility restrictions affecting borders, it has had a deleterious impact on migrants and increased their vulnerability, particularly for migrant women and unaccompanied migrant youth.
“In the post-pandemic context, migration flows have resumed. Although Europe has the highest level of intra-regional migration globally, Latin America and the Caribbean have seen the highest relative growth in intra-regional migration between 2000 and 2020.”
She warned that “unless we act now, all these factors could put the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals far out of reach” and that “ambitious policies, with course corrections, are urgently needed to reinforce positive trends and reverse negative ones.”
The UN Deputy Secretary-General said amid these challenges, “We should not overlook the achievements for sustainable development in this region.
“Latin America and the Caribbean stands firm in its commitment to the 2030 Agenda. Many countries are integrating the SDGs into national development plans and fostering the participation of women, youth, indigenous peoples, and local communities to ensure a sustained implementation that leaves no one behind.”
She said local initiatives, for example, in the context of the care society, serve as inspiring examples of transformation mobilizing a whole-of-society approach and that efforts to advance ocean conservation and sustainable use and reverse the loss of terrestrial biodiversity provide additional examples of regional collaboration.
Mohammed said the region has also been at the forefront of the intergovernmental dialogue on care systems prioritizing gender equality.
She said the current unfair organization of care is a crucial driver of inequality that cuts across the SDGs, with a particular impact on those most likely to be left behind, adding, “We know that.
“The gap in extreme income poverty between women and men increases to 22 percent during women’s productive and reproductive ages; for women, two-thirds of their time is spent on unpaid work and one-third in the labor market – an inverse proportion to that of men.”
Mohammed said last year, the Buenos Aires Commitment was adopted at the 15th Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, under Argentina’s leadership, calling for a just social organization of care.
“This commitment is an ambitious and comprehensive roadmap that aims to move towards a ‘care society,’ one which recognizes the interdependence between people and between productive processes and society: a society that places the sustainability of life and the planet at the heart of development.
“We have since progressed with universalizing access to energy, and the renewable portion of the primary energy sector grew to one-third, 33.2 percent, in 2021. However, gaps persist between high- and low-income groups. And rural areas are still left behind. ”
Mohammed said the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has identified transformative sectors to help countries reactivate their productive systems and move towards low-carbon economies.
“The region is rich in resources to benefit from the green energy transition and related industries, including critical minerals, green hydrogen, storage technologies, and electromobility.”
In 2021, fixed broadband reached nearly 62 percent of Latin American and Caribbean households, placing the region well below other areas such as North America and Europe.
But Mohammed said a quarter of urban and two-thirds of rural households still need to be connected.
“In this region, we have also seen significant progress regarding accounting and capturing gender inequalities, including in coordination through the Statistical Conference of the Americas.
“The region’s voices have been loud and clear to demand new models of international cooperation with middle-income countries; and to rethink concessional finance eligibility, including by building a multi-dimensional vulnerability index.
“As we tackle the challenges ahead, these hopeful examples should serve as inspiration – and as evidence that with the right mobilization, policies, and investments, we can turn the situation around,” Mohammed said, adding, “Regional integration and cooperation are vital to accelerating this transformation.”
She told the Forum that this year will determine the future of the 2030 Agenda.
“We must achieve transformative change. World leaders will need to choose to fulfill their commitment to a better future or let it fall by the wayside,” she said, adding that the SDG Summit and the Climate Ambition Summit in September must result in a concrete commitment by political leaders to invest in sustainable development, and to keep the 1.5-degree limit alive.
“The first step is here, at the sixth Latin American and Caribbean Forum on Sustainable Development. I call on you to create momentum for collaborative action that builds towards these two critical summits, reaffirm the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, and steer durable, inclusive peace and development.
“Let us rise to the challenge and meet the needs of current and future generations. Let us mobilize a new collective will to drive a sustainable, prosperous future for all,” Mohammed said.
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