24 September 2013: The inaugural meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) convened under the auspices of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 24 September 2013. The meeting followed the closing session of the Forum’s predecessor, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which took place on 20 September 2013.

The theme of the first session was ‘Building the future we want: From Rio+20 to the post-2015 development agenda.’ A gathering of presidents, prime ministers, ministers and other officials listened to opening remarks from General Assembly President John Ashe and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Other opening speakers included: Nestor Osorio, President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil; Enrico Letta, Prime Minister of Italy; Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group; Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and Gita Sen, Representative of the Major Groups.

The session included several segments featuring keynote presentations from Heads of State and Government and Ministers, and remarks from the floor, on themes including ‘Global partnerships for development to create jobs and improve sustainable lifestyles,’ and ‘Mapping the way forward for eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.’

By the time the session concluded, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) reports, many agreed that the inaugural meeting had confirmed global readiness to implement the vision of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) and the need to put poverty eradication and sustainable development at the core of the post-2015 development agenda. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage] [IISD RS Story on CSD 20] [UN Press Release, 24 September] [UN Press Release, 26 September] [DESA Press Release and Video]