Yesterday, United Nations officials stressed that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are being formulated by Member States must address the environmental degradation that is threatening present and future generations.
“The eradication of poverty and promotion of health, education as well as economic and social development retain their prime importance,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the start of the open working group on the SDGs in New York. “These challenges will need to be addressed in the SDGs, but the SDGs must go further to integrate more comprehensively environmental sustainability,” he added.
During the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) last June, countries produced a document entitled “The Future We Want,” which called for a wide range of actions, including beginning the process to establish sustainable development goals. The open working group was established to work on these goals and present a proposed list to the 68th session of the General Assembly in September.
“The SDGs should contribute to transformative change, in support of a rights-based, equitable and inclusive approach to sustainability at global, regional, national and local levels,” Mr. Ban said.
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