Check against delivery! 

Mr President, Distinguished Ministers, I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

“Pact for the Future”. The words evoke hope, trust and ambition. 

Three days ago, leaders met at the SDG Summit to review progress and accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Their assessment was stark: “achievement of the SDGs is in peril”. We must step up.

The UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 2030 Agenda, and the UN75 Declaration remain our roadmaps. They are among humanity’s greatest achievements; they need to be respected and implemented.

The Summit of the Future should accelerate implementation of existing agreements, including milestone accords such as Paris on climate change, or Montreal-Kunming on Global Biodiversity.

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda should guide our work to promote sustainable finance globally, including through enhancing discussions on reform of the International Financial Architecture and Multilateral Development Banks. The European Union is committed to mobilising finance for those who need it most, including through our Global Gateway initiative.

A more ambitious and inclusive approach to international peace and security, laid out in the Secretary General’s New Agenda for Peace, offers a chance to shape responses to old and new threats, not least by strengthening prevention and peacebuilding. UN Peacekeeping may need to adapt, requires predictable and sustainable financing. We need a multilateral approach built on transparency and accountability.

We need to step up action to address digital divides and safeguard the digital commons. The Global Digital Compact should be a roadmap for a human-centric and human rights-based digital future. We need to harness digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to accelerate achievement of the SDGs. We also need to take steps to protect the integrity of information.

It is important to have fairer representation in international bodies, so we welcome the African Union taking its place as a full member of the G20. The EU supports a comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council to make it more inclusive, transparent, democratic and accountable. We believe in strengthening the voice of underrepresented regions, especially Africa.

We must integrate the views and interests of “Youth and Future Generations” in our policy and decision-making. This starts with effective participation of young people, which requires a willingness to listen and learn from them. The European Union supports the Secretary General’s ambition for a dedicated Declaration on Future Generations.

All these measures require “Transforming Global Governance”. We must modernise and rejuvenate the UN to face new challenges, taking inspiration from the Secretary General’s “UN 2.0” proposals.

Above all, human rights and the empowerment of women and girls must receive their proper place as cross-cutting elements in the Pact for the Future, alongside international law and sustainable development.

Rest assured of the European Union’s continued support for an ambitious ‘Pact for the Future’: a Pact by all, to ensure a better future for all.

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-245856