15 October 2018: Addressing the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee (Economic and Financial), UNGA President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés said the success of the 2030 Agenda depends on strengthening financing for development. She also highlighted the imminent “first implementation stage” of the SDGs in 2020.

Opening the Second Committee’s meeting on 15 October 2018, in New York, US, Espinosa told delegates that the Committee’s agreements should be consistent with the 2030 Agenda, and aimed at accelerating the implementation of the 17 SDGs. She observed that from among the SDGs’ 169 targets, 21 must be achieved by 2020. Over half of these relate to “collective action to mitigate climate change, preserve ecosystems and make the consumption and use of natural resources more sustainable,” she said, and the Second Committee’s work will be crucial to reaching “this first implementation stage.”

The President also highlighted the upcoming meeting of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) to be held under the auspices of the UNGA in September 2019. She said the meeting will allow for identifying how much progress has been made since the SDGs were adopted and what measures are still needed.

Espinosa will convene a high-level meeting on world climate protection for present and future generations, with a focus on means of implementation.

Espinosa gave Committee members a preview of the “prolific” session ahead, highlighting several processes and events that arise from mandates of the Second Committee, including on: financing for development; illicit financial flows; the programmes of action for the small island developing States (SIDS) and land-locked developing countries (LLDCs); challenges for middle-income countries; and the preparatory process of the High-Level Conference on South-South Cooperation in March 2019. She said she will convene a high-level meeting on world climate protection for present and future generations, in the context of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda, and which will be focused on promoting means of implementation, such as low carbon technologies, capacity development and climate financing.

The Second Committee began its work for the 73rd session with an organizational meeting on 4 October and a keynote address on 8 October. Following the general debate from 8-10 October, it held a joint meeting with ECOSOC on the topic of a circular economy. The Committee’s agenda and programme of work are available on its website. [UNGA President’s remarks to Second Committee]