Statement by the Chair of the G77 and China, Ambassador Pedro L. Pedroso Cuesta, at the General Assembly session for the adoption of the Draft Decision A/77/L.109 on the scope for the Summit of the Future.
New York, 1st September, 2023
Distinguished President,
Excellencies,
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G77 and China. At the outset, allow me to commend all the efforts and hard work made by the co-facilitators of this process, Ambassador of Namibia, H.E. Neville Melvin Gertze and Ambassador of Germany, H.E. Antje Leendertse, in order to advance towards consensus on this complex and significant process.
The Group has worked constructively and highly committed in the past months in order to finalize a document which could include the priorities of developing countries for the Summit of the Future, as well as its outcome document entitled “Pact for the Future”, mainly related to our condition as such, and to bridge the enormous gap between developed and developing countries which would permit to advance towards a common future of sustainable development, peace and respect of all human rights for all, including the right to development, in a context of human dignity for every country and every people. The achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls will be also crucial in the future we want.
Since no agreement was possible on a detailed and balanced text, with elements to be agreed by all Member States, the Group of G77 and China expresses today its understanding that this A/77/L.109 we just adopted is an streamlined and general text, with no substance at all in the Chapeau and Chapters, and that it might not be the best document to reflect the scope of the Summit of the Future, but at least is a minimum common ground in which all delegations can find room for including their interests and priorities, in the next few months, when we negotiate “A Pact for the Future” to be adopted next year. These negotiations could take into account the deep debates and the work that was done during the preparatory process, in matters of priority for developing countries, considering an adequate balance of the whole document.
We hope that we will participate, in the coming months, in open, transparent and exhaustive intergovernmental negotiations, in order to incorporate all the necessary substance to the Pact for the Future, specially the needs and priorities of the global South.
Since the priority for this year continues to be the SDG Summit, we reiterate that, for the Group, the full achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals should be at the heart of preparations of any outcome of the Summit of the Future. A balanced, comprehensive and ambitious Political Declaration of the SDG Summit, that we hope will finally be adopted, will constitute an essential input for the preparatory process of the Summit of the Future, including its Ministerial in September this year, as well as for the Summit itself. The Ministerial will be also a significant input for the negotiations on the Pact.
The Summit of the Future should strengthen multilateralism to move towards a more just, equitable, non-discriminatory and sustainable world that advances towards the sustainable development and prosperity of all countries, in line with the UN Charter. The path to this noble purpose is, indisputably, to change the current unjust and exclusionary international order. In this regard, the Group strongly believes that a future world cannot be conceived without lifting and refraining from promulgating and applying unilateral economic, financial or trade coercive measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, since they affect dramatically the rights and dignity of the people living under those illegal measures and hinder the efforts of countries affected to achieve sustainable development.
The Group underlines the importance of addressing the problems and challenges of the present in order to create a better environment for future generations. In this regard, development issues should be at the center of discussions, as cross-cutting matters, as well as the eradication of poverty and hunger. To that end, counting with, inter alia, the necessary means of implementation, reforming the international financial architecture and establishing measures going beyond GDP to have a more inclusive approach to international cooperation, are crucial.
The Group also highlights that the Summit of the Future must provide concrete solutions for the promotion of technology transfer from developed countries to developing countries, as well as for capacity building and technological and scientific cooperation to close the digital and technological divide and foster sustainable development in its three dimensions in a balanced and integrated manner.
In these times of multidimensional crises that weigh particularly on the countries of the South, we can only look to the future with the conviction that solidarity, equity, social justice and cooperation must prevail to achieve the development and well-being of present and future generations.
Thank you very much.