Mr. President, Excellencies,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. 

I would like to start by congratulating Ms. Keisha Aniya McGuire Permanent Representative of Grenada and Mr. Jörundur Valtýsson, Permanent Representative of Iceland, for their appointments to facilitate this process and thank them for convening this meeting to consult the UN membership.  We also thank DESA and the Inter-Agency Task Force for submitting the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report as basis for our upcoming discussions.

The most pressing objectives in 2022 are to defeat the pandemic and get the world back on track through a human rights-based response, with particular focus on women and girls, leaving no one behind, and addressing the needs of LDCs who have been disproportionally harmed by the pandemic. We envisage a high-level outcome document, which is concise and action oriented, recalls that the 2030 Agenda, Addis Ababa Action Agenda and Paris Agreement are intrinsically linked and mutually reinforcing, and stresses the importance of ensuring that financial flows do not run counter to commitments undertaken to address the planetary crisis.

The EU and its Member States collectively have supported COVAX with a contribution of over 3 billion EUR and have shared more than 472 million doses of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines to date, heading towards 700 million by mid-2022. It is now that we have to reaffirm the principles of Universal Health Coverage, commit to the WHO global target of 70% vaccination, and call for increased investments in pandemic preparedness and response. Health is a key element of the recovery, but it is only one of the faces of the universal social protection required to build back better and address inequalities, including its underlying social determinants.  

This crisis has offered an opportunity to demonstrate the leadership of the United Nations and the Multilateral System in shaping the global response. We commend the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the Common Framework put in place by the G20 and the Paris Club, as well as the IMF issuance of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). It is now particularly important to ensure synergies between the different processes, to strengthen collaboration between the G20, WB, IMF and the UN, and to send the right political signals for a solid recovery. This, of course, can only be done if all stakeholders, including civil society organizations, are deeply involved in the process. In this regard, it is of crucial importance that stakeholders are fully integrated in the negotiations of the FfD Outcome Document.

The EU remains the world’s leading donor in Official Development Assistance. In 2020 the collective ODA from the European Union and its Member States amounted to 67 billion euro representing 46% of global assistance. We reaffirm the international agreement on ODA as the base for international development cooperation, but also recall that domestic resource mobilization, specifically tax collection, is the most solid basis for a long-term sustainable development. In the Outcome Document we have to commit to strengthening public finance management and good governance, improving efficiency on expenditure, and halting illicit financial flows.

Climate change and the wider planetary crisis is a defining issue of our time; non-action on it endangers the fulfilment of all SDGs. We have to underline the need to increase action and support for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and recognize the importance of avoiding harmful activities, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and other risks that threaten to undermine past successes and future prospects. We also have to combat SDG-washing practices through more transparency provided by credible sustainable finance frameworks, and policies such as taxonomies or disclosure requirements.

We also recognise the importance of real alignment of public and private financial flows with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement objectives. On the one hand, Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) should ensure the alignment of national planning, taxation, spending and implementation. On the other hand, such alignment should also be achieved by International Financial Institutions, public development banks and private finance; particularly when dealing with innovative financing instruments.

In order to achieve the SDG, it is critical to scale up sustainable finance in developing countries, to develop public private partnerships and innovative financial instruments, to build a pipeline of bankable green projects, and to facilitate access for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. In this context infrastructure investments become even more fundamental. The Global Gateway, the EU global Connectivity strategy launched last December will better connect the world and protect our planet through sustainable investments. Together we have to find ways to trigger transformative actions in quality infrastructure that address sustainability, resilience, inclusiveness and climate ambitions.

During the pandemic digital technologies have proven to be instrumental in order to stay connected, to have access to education, health information and financing. Investments in capacity building for research and development have become crucial to meet the challenges of the development agenda at global and local levels. Investment in science, technology and innovation have be promoted to tackle better future crises and development challenges, particularly by strengthening digital skills for the most vulnerable, and adapting regulatory frameworks to enable a digital recovery, assuring safe access and full respect for human rights online. 

Thank you.