Good afternoon,
It is my pleasure to join everyone for the press briefing of The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, officially launched today during the High-Level Political Forum. The Report tracks progress towards achieving the 17 Global Goals and highlights that urgent action is needed to get the world on track towards sustainability.
The world is facing a confluence of crises, predominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and an increased number of conflicts around the world. Combined, they are threatening the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the very survival of humanity.
According to the latest data presented in the Report, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted progress across the Goals. More than four years of progress in alleviating poverty have been wiped out, pushing 93 million more people worldwide back into extreme poverty in 2020. Meanwhile, an estimated 147 million children missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years. The pandemic brought major disruptions to essential health services, triggered an increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression, lowered global life expectancy, and derailed progress towards ending HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.
Concurrently, the world is witnessing the largest number of violent conflicts since 1946, with one quarter of the global population now living in conflict-affected countries. As of May 2022, over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. The Ukraine crisis has caused food, fuel and fertilizer prices to skyrocket, further disrupted supply chains and global trade, roiled financial markets, and threatened global food security and aid flows.
Humanity is also on the verge of a climate catastrophe and its impacts are already being witnessed and felt by billions of people across the world. In 2021, energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 6 per cent, reaching their highest level ever, and completely wiping out pandemic-related declines. Under current voluntary national commitments for climate action, greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to rise by nearly 14 per cent by 2030.
The brunt of the cascading global crises impacts the poorest and most vulnerable the most. Women struggle with the constraints of lost jobs and livelihoods, derailed schooling and increased burdens of unpaid care work at home. Meanwhile, existing evidence suggests that violence against women and girls has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Child labour and child marriage are on the rise.
Although the report paints a very sobering picture regarding the state of the SDGs, it is worth noting that our responses to these interlinked crises have forced new ways of thinking and opened up new opportunities. For instance, response to the COVID-19 pandemic have sped up the adoption of digital technologies and led to embracing innovative approaches to service delivery. The number of Internet users surged by 782 million to reach 4.9 billion people in 2021 from 4.1 billion in 2019. Most industries using medium and high technology have already returned to pre-pandemic production levels.
Overall, the report underscores the severity and magnitude of the challenges before us, which will require accelerated action, on a global scale, that is committed to and follows the SDG roadmap.
We must start by ending armed conflicts and embarking on a path of diplomacy and peace – a precondition for sustainable development.
We must adopt low-carbon, resilient and inclusive development pathways.
And nothing short of a comprehensive transformation of the international financial and debt architecture will be required to accomplish these aims and to avoid a two-track recovery, with developing countries left behind.
We know the solutions and we have the roadmap of the SDGs to guide us in weathering the storm and coming out stronger and better together.
I thank you all.