Small Island Developing States

Highlights for Tuesday, 16 July 2019 UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers an address at the opening of the High-level segment. Posted by IISD Reporting Services on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 The High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Ministerial Segment of HLPF opened with several high-level statements on Tuesday morning. UN Secretary-General (UNSG) António Guterres called for “dramatically scaling up” private and public investments in SDGs and called on governments to “kickstart a decade of delivery and action”. María Fernanda Espinosa, President, UN General Assembly, said the five summit-level meetings at UN Headquarters in September 2019 will be a key opportunity to show that multilateralism works.Mary Robinson, Chair, The Elders, said the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement can no longer be considered voluntary, after the alarming findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Richard Curtis, Screenwriter, Producer, and Film Director, UK, called on governments to seize the “unique opportunity” presented by the SDGs before the window of opportunity begins to close, and an acceptance of failure sets in. Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair, said achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be made more challenging by the impacts of global warming, but the impacts will be considerably less if global average temperature rise is limited to 1.5°C, instead of 2°C.This opening of the High-level Segment was followed by the presentation of voluntary national reviews (VNRs) by 14 countries through the day: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Pakistan, Palau, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Fiji, and Mongolia.In the afternoon, as part of the High-level Segment, a session took place on "What are regions telling us about implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs?". Chairs of the regional forums on sustainable development, held annually, presented their outcomes. Inequality was a key challenge for most of the regions. A respondent to the presentations, Sarah Zaman from Women’s Action Forum, pointed to the under-utilized potential of regional level-bodies, which she said could address issues such as illicit financial flows, tax avoidance, and trade. She also proposed that interim VNRs should be presented at the regional level, before they are presented at the HLPF.In the session on messages to the HLPF, representatives of the UN Environment Assembly, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Forum on Forests, ECOSOC Youth Forum, and International Labour Organisation presented messages to HLPF, highlighting synergies with the SDGs and 2030 Agenda.The General Debate started with a presentation of key messages from the UNSG’s reports on long term trends and scenarios and on the theme of ECOSOC 2019 session; and from the Committee on Development Policy (CDP) report. Statements by Member States followed.For more details on the day's events and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from HLPF 2019. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis report from the meeting, which is now available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Opening of the High-Level Segment of ECOSOC and Ministerial Segment of HLPF Delegates gather in the UN General Assembly for the opening of the high-level segment. Creative group 'Gruppo Jobel - Art for Earth' perform a interpretive dance to officially open the session. Five youth deliver key messages about the importance of the SDGs. Inga Rhonda King, President, ECOSOC Mary Robinson, Chair, The Elders UN Secretary-General António Guterres María Fernanda Espinosa, President, UN General Assembly Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair Richard Curtis, Screenwriter, Producer and Film Director Jean Jacques Elmiger, President of the 108th International Labour Conference (second from right), hands over the International Labour Organization (ILO) Centenary Declaration on the Future of Work to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Voluntary National Reviews Fourteen VNRs were presented throughout the day. Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland Kanwal Shauzab, Parliamentary Secretary, Pakistan Lassane Kabore, Minister of Economy, Finance, and Development, Burkina Faso Tlohelang Aumane, Minister of Development Planning, Lesotho Sinton Soalablai, Minister of Education, Palau Khurelbaatar Chimed, Ministry of Finance, Mongolia Rachid Bladehane, Permanent Secretary-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Algeria Zhaslan Madiyev, Vice-Minister of National Economy, Kazakhstan Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Fiji Joseph Seka Seka, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Côte d'Ivoire Rory Stewart, Secretary of State for International Development, UK Josip Brkić, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina Zdravka Bušić, State Secretary for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Croatia Yanara Chhieng, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister and Secretary-General, Cambodia Rehabilitation and Development Board, Council for Development, Cambodia What are Regions Telling Us About Implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs? During the session, Chairs of the five regional forums shared their experiences about implementing the SDGs. Moderator Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Cuba Nezha El Ouafi, Secretary of State to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development, Morocco Fidelis Magalhaes, Minister for Legal Reforms and Parliamentary Affairs, Timor-Leste Ogerta Manastirliu, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Albania Nouri Al-Dulaimi, Minister of Planning, Iraq Messages to the HLPF Ola Elvestuen, President, UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), and Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway Michelle Bachelet Jeria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Boris Greguška, Chair, UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) 14 Bureau Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Guy Ryder, Director-General, ILO General Debate Delegates gather in the Trusteeship Council for the start of the General Debate. Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary-General, Economic Development and Chief Economist, UN DESA José Antonio Ocampo, Chair, Committee on Development Policy (CDP) President Thomas Esang Remengesau, Palau, speaking on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States Epsy Campbell Barr, Vice-President, Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the Group of Middle Income Countries Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China Around the Venue The UN General Assembly Hall is decorated with the SDGs. Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister for National Development Planning, Indonesia Richard Curtis, Screenwriter, Producer and Film Director UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed and Achim Steiner, Administrator, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair Delegates from Pakistan Delegates from Serbia Mary Robinson, Chair, The Elders Seán Canney, Minister of State for Communications, Climate Action, and Environment, Ireland (left) Macharia Kamau, Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya