Sustainable Development Summit: Transforming Our World for People and Planet

  New York, 21 September 2015 - More than 150 world leaders are expected to attend the UN Sustainable Development Summit from 25-27 September at UN Headquarters in New York to formally adopt an ambitious new sustainable development agenda. This momentous agenda will serve as the launch pad for action by the international community and by national governments to promote shared prosperity and well-being for over the next 15 years. It includes for the first time a specific goal on energy, which is consistent with the targets of the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SEforALL): “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” Access to sustainable energy will also underpin success in many of the other Sustainable Development Goals to be adopted, from poverty alleviation, health and education to gender equality, economic growth and climate action. In a statement issued following consensus reached by Member States on the Summit outcome document on 2 August, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “[the agreement] encompasses a universal, transformative and integrated agenda that heralds an historic turning point for our world.” “This is the People’s Agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind,” he said. Agreed by the 193 Member States of the UN, the proposed Agenda, entitled “Transforming Our World: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” consists of a Declaration, 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets, a section on means of implementation and renewed global partnership, and a framework for review and follow-up. The agenda is unique in that it calls for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income. It recognizes that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with a plan that builds economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while addressing climate change and environmental protection. The new sustainable development agenda builds on the successful outcome of the Conference on Financing for Development that recently concluded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where SEforALL presented recommendations from its Finance Committee that could raise an additional $120 billion a year in the near term in investment for sustainable energy. It is expected that the agenda will also positively affect the negotiations on a new meaningful and universal climate agreement in Paris this December during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21). SEforALL is co-organizing the thematic Energy Day during COP 21 and is the lead organization for Energy Access and Efficiency under the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), which brings both state and non-state actors together on the global stage to accelerate cooperative climate action in support of this new agreement.   Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development   Visit the summit site at: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/summit