UAE reaffirms its commitment to the delivery of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The United Arab Emirates has reaffirmed its commitment to the delivery of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A day before the Paris Climate Agreement signing ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York on 22 April, the world leaders came together to discuss the urgency for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted at the UN Summit for Sustainable Development in September 2015.

Convened by the 70th President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, the high-level thematic debate on "Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals" was a timely event, since the two political milestones go hand in hand and are mutually re-enforcing, given that climate change affects all spheres of the economy, society and environment.

The 2030 Agenda, underpinned by the universal 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, builds on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals that have guided development agenda over the last 15-years to aid the world’s poorest to meet their basic development needs. The 2030 Agenda with a significantly widened scope and ambition aims to make the world a better place for all, by 2030, through dedicated goals such as on poverty eradication, sustainable energy, climate change, quality health, sustained economic growth and peace and security.

"The UAE is already taking concrete steps toward achieving the 2030 Agenda," said Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, who represented the UAE at the event.

In his statement, Dr. Al Zeyoudi highlighted domestic work underway to achieve SDGs by aligning global goals and targets with the UAE’s policies, strategies and key performance indicators and report on progress. The UAE is also working to improve its data gathering and analytical capabilities to meet the extensive SDG reporting requirements. Internationally, the UAE is joining leading global donors in supporting other developing countries and people in vulnerable situations, through the deployment of renewable energy projects, provision of capital to infrastructure projects and supporting initiatives such as the "Every Women Every Child Everywhere" which offer healthcare services to women and children. Furthermore, an annual high-level program on SDG implementation kicked off as part of the World Government Summit in February this year.

"Last September, the UAE joined the world in welcoming the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, and today, we are here to reaffirm that we have started implementing these ambitious goals, one step closer to the realization of a sustainable future," said Dr. Al Zeyoudi in his concluding remarks.

The thematic debate was held to mark the beginning of the 15-year implementation journey of the 2030 Agenda to increase international awareness and political momentum, and brought together leaders from the government, business and civil society.

Source :WAM