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High Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

21 April 2016 | UN Headquarters, New York

Highlights for Thursday, 21 April 2016

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Coverage — About | 21 Apr
High Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

View of the opening ceremony of the High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals at the chamber of the UN General Assembly

The High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took place on Thursday, 21 April 2016, at UN Headquarters, in New York. Following opening keynote speeches, plenary convened throughout the day for national statements on the theme “Action at All Levels: National Implementation.” In the morning, two panels took place on the theme “financing poverty eradication and sustainable development” addressing successful frameworks and strategies for financing SDGs and the paradigm shift towards low carbon societies, and enhancing international cooperation in tax and financial matters.

A high-level lunch discussed partnerships for SDG implementation. In the afternoon, two panels took place under the theme “technology and data for SDGs,” on enhancing technology development and cooperation for SDGs and harnessing the data revolution for SDGs. In the evening, a high-level reception addressed climate action in the context of sustainable development.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided web coverage from the High Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has published a briefing note from the debate in HTML and PDF formats.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon
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Opening Ceremony

Drummers from Mamaroneck High School


President of the UNGA Mogens Lykketoft

Moderator Ghida Fakhry

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson


Forest Whitaker, SDG Advocate and Actor

Victoria Barrett, ACE Fellow


Leymah Gbowee, SDG Advocate and Liberian peace activist

Sunny George Verghese, Co–Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Olam International Ltd.

Moderated dialogue on the SDGs

L-R: Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Deputy Director-General, International Institute for Applied System Analysis;
Moderator Ghida Fakhry; and Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University

Statements:


János Áder, President, Hungary

Ribulik Naoero, President, Nauru

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia


Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator

Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director

Youth participants at the SDGs

Interactive Dialogues:

Financing Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development

View of the interactive dialogue on financing poverty eradication and sustainable development


L-R: Barbara Adams, Senior Policy Advisor, Global Policy Forum; Namita Vikas, Group President and Country Head,
Responsible Banking & Chief Sustainability Officer, YES Bank; Torbin Möger Pedersen, CEO, Pension Denmark;
Izabella Teixeira, Minister of Environment, Brazil; Maggie Lake, Anchor and Correspondent, CNN International;
and Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of England

Barbara Adams, Senior Policy Advisor, Global Policy Forum


Namita Vikas, Group President and Country Head, Responsible Banking & Chief Sustainability Officer, YES Bank

Izabella Teixeira, Minister of Environment, Brazil

Torbin Möger Pedersen, CEO, Pension Denmark


Maggie Lake, Anchor and Correspondent, CNN International

Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of England

L-R: Enrique García Rodríguez, Executive President and CEO, Development Bank of Latin America; Héla Cheikhrouhou,
Executive Director, Green Climate Fund; and Stefano Prato, Managing Director, Society for International Development

Enhancing International Cooperation in Tax and Finance Matters

L-R: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International; Vicente Paolo Yu, Head of
Administration and Coordinator, Global Governance for Development Programme, South Centre; Min Zhu, Deputy
Managing Director, IMF; Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD; José Antonio Ocampo, Director of the
Economic and Political Development Concentration in the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University;
and Tom Butler, President and CEO, International Council on Mining and Metals


Vicente Paolo Yu, Head of
Administration and Coordinator, Global Governance for Development Programme, South Centre


Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International

Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD

L-R: Tove Maria Ryding, Policy and Advocacy Manager – Tax Justice, EURODAD; and
Marcos Bonturi, Director, Global Relations Secretariat, OECD

Technology and Data for SDGs: Enhancing Technology Development and Cooperation for SDGs

L-R: Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute; Thomas Videbeck, Novozymes; Sirodjidin Aslov,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tajikistan; Esben Lunde Larsen, Minister for Environment and Food, Denmark;
Rachel Kyte, CEO, SE4ALL, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General;
and Barbara Birungi, Director, Women in Technology, Uganda

Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute


Barbara Birungi, Director, Women in Technology Uganda

Rachel Kyte, CEO, SE4ALL, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General

Harnessing the Data Revolution for SDGs—Opportunities and Challenges

Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General, UNDESA

L-R: Amina Mohammed, Minister of Environment, Nigeria; Lara Birkes, Chief Sustainability Officer, Hewlett Packard
Enterprise; Lisa Grace Bersales, Co-Chair, IAEG-SDGs; Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UNFPA;
Christian Friis Bach, Chair, UN Regional Economic Commissions; and Erica Hagen, Board Member and
Founder, Map Kibera

Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UNFPA


Amina Mohammed, Minister of Environment, Nigeria

Christian Friis Bach, Chair, UN Regional Economic Commissions

High-Level Lunch: Partnerships for SDG Implementation

L-R: Rhea Suh, President, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Peter Bakker, President, World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD); Jeremy Oppenheim, Programme Director, Global Business for
Sustainable Development; and Moderator Ghida Fakhry

High-Level Reception: Climate Action in the Context of Sustainable Development

Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General

Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary

Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Rumaihi, Minister of Municipality and Environment, Qatar

Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez, Civil society representative

L-R: Victoria Barrett, ACE Fellow; Rima Cempaka, Office of the President of the General Assembly; Xiuhtezcatl
Roske-Martinez, Civil society representative

Coverage — About | 21 Apr

IISD Reporting Services is grateful to the many donors of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) and recognizes the following as core contributors to the ENB: the European Union, the Government of Switzerland (the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. General Support for the Bulletin during 2016 is provided by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, SWAN International, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Ministry of Environment (through the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies - IGES), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).