By Daniel Nardin

The Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Amina Mohammed, said the reality of climate change can accelerate the process of convincing funders and politicians for climate action. Her statement came on 7 July 2026, the first day of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US. The HLPF is the main global space for monitoring the UN’s 2030 Agenda for development.

The topic was addressed during the press conference to present the 2026 Report of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “El Niño is a global phenomenon. No one is immune to it and we see the heat, we see the floods. Therefore, we hope that the current reality and the science that underpins the understanding may make funders and politicians engage,” she said.

“The international community needs not to be afraid of the resources that are needed to be a less stressed world, a world where people don’t have to think about tomorrow, whether they will be alive or not. There are the resources to do that. There should be the political will to move these resources and the financial architecture that needs to be reformed so that the money goes to climate action,” she pointed out.

Impact of climate disasters 

The report also highlighted that the number of people affected by climate-related disasters has more than doubled since 2015. “Aggravated by climate change, disasters continue to take a heavy economic toll, reducing incomes, deepening debts, increasing insurance unviability and increasing dependence on humanitarian aid around the world,” the report points out.

Between 2015 and 2024, based on data reported by the countries, direct economic losses reached an average of more than 110 billion dollars per year, equivalent to 0.28% of the GDP of the reporting countries. The report reinforces that the numbers probably underestimate the true scale: when cascading effects and damage to ecosystems are included, losses from disasters exceed USD2.3 trillion per year. “This underscores the urgent need to shift reactive spending towards development that anticipates and accounts for disaster risk, supported by sustained investments in resilience,” the UN report recommends.

Launched on 7 July 2026 in New York, the SDG Report states that with less than five years to the 2030 deadline, a decisive final effort is needed to keep the promise of the SDGs within reach. Despite the advances, major challenges remain. Of the 139 SDG targets with trend data, only 36% are on track or show moderate progress to be met by the 2030 deadline. The report also points out that almost half (49%) are advancing very slowly. In the general picture, 15% of the goals regressed to levels below those of 2015.

According to the UN, since 2015, sustained investments, sound policies and international cooperation have shown data that help measure the improvement in quality of life around the world – or the slow steps to take place by 2030. “Guided by the data in this report, our vision of the 2030 Agenda remains within reach. Together, we will make a decisive final push to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a healthy and prosperous future for all people,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. (With information from Unic-Rio).

This article was originally published on https://www.amazoniavox.com/noticias/view/662/en/climate_reality_can_make_politicians_and_funders_finally_engage_says_un_deputy_secretary_general