The UN Global Governance Group (3G) has called on the Group of 20 (G-20) to make low-carbon, sustainable infrastructure development a cornerstone of its future work, to ensure that international climate targets and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be fully achieved.
The 3G is an informal grouping of smaller and medium-sized UN Member States.
22 September 2016: The UN Global Governance Group (3G) has called on the Group of 20 (G-20) to make low-carbon, sustainable infrastructure development a cornerstone of its future work, to ensure that international climate targets and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be fully achieved. The 3G is an informal grouping of smaller and medium-sized UN Member States.
The 3G held its ninth ministerial meeting with the G-20 troika, represented by Germany, Singapore and Turkey, on 22 September 2016, on the margins of the 71st UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US.
UNGA President Peter Thomson welcomed the G-20’s alignment of its work with the 2030 Agenda at its 2016 meeting in Hangzhou, China, and highlighted the impact of G-20 decisions on global economic and financial markets. He stressed that the G-20 can play a crucial role in ensuring that the global financial system becomes a sustainable one, geared towards financing sustainable infrastructure. Thomson encouraged the incoming German presidency of the G-20 to maintain “the strong focus” on the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change. He underscored that implementing both agreements requires that “the investments – to the tune of trillions of dollars – that will take place over coming years into infrastructure –energy, housing, roads, ports, telecommunication – are sustainable and low carbon.”
The G-20 is composed of 19 individual countries—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and US – as well as the EU.
On the same day in New York, ministers of the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened at the ASEAN-UN Ministerial Meeting (AUMM). Thomson welcomed regional initiatives to support national implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement, and highlighted the development of the ASEAN-UN Action Plan on Environment and Climate Change (2016-2020). He invited ASEAN countries to contribute to the UN Conference on Oceans, relating to SDG 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development), which is scheduled to take place in June 2017, in New York. He encouraged ASEAN members to raise public awareness of human rights in the region, and thanked them for their contributions to UN peacekeeping operations across the globe, as well as for their commitment to preserving the region as a nuclear-free zone.
ASEAN leaders previously met with the UN on 8 September 2016, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Lao PDR was the first ASEAN country to deposit its instrument of ratification to the Paris Agreement. [UNGA President’s Remarks to G-20 Troika] [UNGA President’s Remarks to ASEAN] [IISD RS Story on ASEAN-UN Summit] [IISD RS Story on Lao Ratifiaction of Paris Agreement]