EU Statement – UN High Level Political Forum: Ministerial Segment

[Thanks to Chair. Colleagues, Ministers, Excellencies]

1. As we mark the 80^th anniversary of the UN Charter and approach the tenth anniversary of our adoption of the 2030 Agenda, and as we pursue the concrete and tangible actions set out in the Pact for the Future, we reaffirm the European Union’s full commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

2. The coming five years will be pivotal. While the crises and challenges we face remain as deeply interconnected and interdependent as ever, the 2030 Agenda remains our only universal roadmap to tackle them -- respecting our planet and leaving no one behind. We must accelerate our fight to bridge the SDG financing gap, and we must do so at a time when we are facing an aggravated triple planetary crisis and a constrained macroeconomic context.

3. These are the facts. So this is also the time for political partnership and solidarity, not retrenchment and polarisation. As reaffirmed in this year’s Ministerial Declaration, there can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without sustainable development. We condemn all forms of aggression and conflict worldwide and reiterate our commitment to a multilateral system based on international law, international humanitarian law, human rights – and the UN Charter.

4. The full implementation of the 2030 Agenda is a shared responsibility that requires strong leadership and a whole-of-society approach. This is why voluntary national reviews, presented here this week, are such important tools. This shared responsibility, and the localisation of SDGs, are key to pulling us back from the brink.

5. To eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimension and end hunger we must target inequalities, within and between countries, between men and women. We must build peaceful, just and inclusive societies that support all their different segments, with action benchmarked against measurable impact.  

6. As the theme of this year’s HLPF recalls, science, technology and innovation, data and evidence-based solutions are critical for accelerating the realisation of the SDGs. These are crucial if we are to move from well-meaning rhetoric to measurable progress. Life-long learning and emerging data-driven technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and earth observation systems, play a significant role as enablers of sustainable development. 

7. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all is a major priority for the EU. We support equitable access to universal health coverage including sexual and reproductive health-care services, disease prevention, occupational safety and health, clean water, sanitation and hygiene and healthy sustainable lifestyles. We pay particular attention this year to the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases ahead of the high-level meeting in September. By fostering the “One Health” approach, we aim to create resilient societies, including action to support mental health, especially online.

8. Gender equality, the empowerment of all women and girls, their protection and full, equal enjoyment of all human rights are also core enablers of success. As we have reaffirmed in this year’s Declaration and our in-depth review of SDG5, achieving full human potential and sustainable development is impossible if women and girls are denied full and equal opportunities. We will keep working for the elimination of technology, resource, and services discrimination, and the eradication of all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.

9. We also look forward to the World Social Summit in November 2025, where we hope to see a commitment to the renewal of the global social contract, adding momentum towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Social justice and social development are possible only through adequate income and decent work for all, and with effective rights-based social protection for all, and the eradication of multi-dimensional poverty.

10. As the recent third UN Ocean Conference underlined, a healthy ocean and its conservation and sustainable use, including of marine resources, is equally critical to achieving the 2030 Agenda. We will work for the swift ratification and entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement[1] and its full and effective implementation, and for accelerated efforts to end marine pollution of all kinds, including plastic pollution, through a legally binding instrument.

11. Colleagues, we must be more coherent, more inclusive, effective and efficient with the resources that are available, mobilising public, private, domestic and international resources, improving and building on existing structures, ongoing work and processes.

12. Together with our Member States, we remain by far the leading predictable, principled, solidarity-driven, and reliable global partner, including as the largest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) globally, representing at least 42% of total ODA.

13. But this will not suffice. We still need a paradigm shift, including a more coherent, inclusive, effective and efficient international financial architecture. We must build on the Compromiso de Sevilla, the outcome of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to achieve this, and a renewed financing for development framework that works for all, mobilising all funds from all sources.

14. Through the Global Gateway global infrastructure initiative, the EU is laser-focused on accelerating social, digital, green and just transitions in partner countries, leveraging both private and public investments in transformative projects, all directly supporting the SDGs. 

15. Colleagues, friends, the urgency has not lessened. Cooperation is not charity, and it is not a “nice to have.” It should be our imperative, our common commitment to the common global interest of leaving no one behind. 

We rolled up our sleeves some time ago and we are eager to keep partnering, and to keep making this happen, together.

[Thank you]

[1] (on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea)