China expects countries to work together on advancing GDI and open world economy, says VP Han
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) addresses the opening of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept 18, 2023. Guterres on Monday called for a global rescue plan for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (PHOTO / XINHUA)
China advocates putting development at the core of the international agenda while advancing the Global Development Initiative and building an open world economy devoid of decoupling and disruption of supply chains, Vice-President Han Zheng said at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Speaking at a leaders’ dialogue during the two-day Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit that ended on Sept 19, Han said global development is facing severe challenges, echoing an assessment from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that halfway to the deadline of the 2030 Agenda, only 15 percent of the targets are on track.
The 2023 SDG Summit, held during the UN General Assembly High-Level week, reaffirmed collective commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs, which represent a global promise to secure the rights and well-being of everyone on a healthy, thriving planet.
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Ugandan Vice-President Jessica Alupo, Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith, and foreign ministers and ministerial officials from more than 20 countries also addressed the meeting.
Han said the Global Development Initiative (GDI), as proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021, aims to promote more robust, greener, and healthier global development. More than 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI, and nearly 200 cooperation projects have been included in the GDI project pool.
“China implements the 2030 Agenda in tandem with its national medium- and long-term development strategies, and always integrates its own development with global prosperity and stability,” Han said.
To accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Han underscored the need to safeguard and practice true multilateralism and to support the UN in playing a coordinating role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
That includes efforts to promote the exchange of development ideas, the alignment of policies as well as the matching of resources among countries, and to make the fruits of development benefit every country and every individual.
The vice-president also proposed building an open world economy.
“It is imperative to advocate openness and inclusiveness, oppose decoupling and disruption of industrial and supply chains, create a favorable external environment for the development of developing countries, and enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in global governance,” he said.
Han also highlighted the role of technology and the global partnership for development.
He noted that countries should deepen practical cooperation in the fields of green development, new industrialization, and digital economy to promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality pledges in a scientific and orderly manner.
As to revitalizing the global partnership for development, Han said developed countries should fulfill their commitments to development aid and climate financing, while developing countries should deepen South-South cooperation.
“It is necessary to fully mobilize the forces of all sectors of society and forge a synergy to promote development,” he said.
China will help the countries of the Global South with concrete actions and continue to work with all sides to make positive contributions to achieving the sustainable development goals on schedule and building a global development community, he added.
Speaking at the close of the summit, Guterres said the political declaration adopted on Sept 18 left world leaders with “a to-do list” to turn words into action to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.
“We must make the most of this summit’s momentum to spur progress in the months ahead,” the UN chief said.
Calling for the formation of a leaders’ group to deliver clear steps that enable the $500 billion per year needed for sustainable development to start flowing before the end of 2024, he also urged developed countries to finally meet their official development assistance target of 0.7 percent of gross national income, according to a press release.
Also speaking at the dialogue, Ajay Jha Kumar, director of the Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society, said there were shortcomings in current partnerships.
Taking climate change as an example, Kumar said the Group of 20 is accountable for more than 80 percent of global emissions but is likely to reduce emissions only by 10 percent by 2030, against the desired 50 percent.
Moreover, less than 14 percent of climate finance goes to least developed countries and less than 2 percent to small island developing states, therefore, he called for true partnerships that can deliver the necessary transformations to achieve the SDGs, according to a press release from the UN.
Xinhua contributed to this report.
