5 September, 2016
Excellencies,
Last year, many of you were in New York to celebrate the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a universal, integrated and transformative plan of action for peace and prosperity for all on a healthy planet.
To achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, we need change in our economies, in our societies, and in our relationship with the environment.
We need balanced, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
As we increase our economic activity through innovation and structural reform, we must dramatically reduce our environmental footprint.
We must address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable first, and make sure we leave no one behind.
The new year ushers in the official launch of the bold and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by world leaders last September at the United Nations. The new Agenda calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 15 years. “The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world’s