Despite hurdles, don’t give up on Sustainable Development Goals, UN urges

Despite hurdles, don’t give up on Sustainable Development Goals, UN urges

President of key UN body ECOSOC, Lok Bahadur Thapa, reminded the international community on Monday that no country can achieve sustainable development on its own, and that political will and momentum is necessary to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Lok Bahadur Thapa, President of the UN Economic and Social Council, addresses the Ministerial Segment of the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development.

“Let us be judged by results,” Mr. Thapa said.The speech marked the beginning of the top ministerial level meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the UN’s annual forum to assess progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is convened by ECOSOC – the UN Economic and Social Council.The High-Level Segment will conclude on Thursday with a negotiated declaration between government ministers and heads of State on concrete actions Member States will take to advance progress on the 17 Goals.The latest draft of the 2026 ministerial declaration includes commitments to increase investment in the SDGs and develop international rules for transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence.