With just four years remaining to achieve the vision laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, only a third of its targets remain on track or are progressing, senior UN officials told the Economic and Social Council’s annual High-Level Political Forum Ministerial Segment today, warning that “we’re now entering the toughest stretch in our journey”.
“Crisis by crisis, the Sustainable Development Goals are drifting further out of reach,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “Conflicts are multiplying [and] inequalities are concentrating power at the very top.”
Speaking at the opening of the Council’s high-level annual review of progress achieved towards sustainable development, he noted that challenges in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals — first adopted by the 193-member General Assembly in 2015 — have only ballooned in recent years.
Rising Costs of Food, Fuel and Debt
Today, millions of people are caught in prolonged cycles of suffering, instability and displacement, he said. The conflict in the Middle East has sent fuel and food prices soaring, and the world has just endured its 11 hottest years on record.
“Developing countries face a whirlwind of financial woe whipped up by crushing debt burdens, weakening currencies, lack of investment, rising borrowing costs and limited fiscal space,” he added.
Against that backdrop, he cautioned that the world is now entering the most challenging stretch of its sustainable development journey. “Our mission is clear — to accelerate progress at scale and speed” by investing in the proven tools of poverty reduction — from education to universal health coverage to energy security and adaptive social protection systems.
And around the world, he said, policies must promote decent work, gender equality and technological access and be grounded in human rights.
He outlined the progress made and challenges remaining towards achieving the Goals under review at this year’s High-Level Political Forum — Goal 6 on safe water and sanitation; Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy; Goal 9 on industries, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities; and Goal 17 on partnerships, emphasizing that no country can achieve those targets alone.
A $4 Trillion Financing Gap: Cooperation Is Possible
“We need urgent action to close the [Sustainable Development Goals] financing gap, which now stands at over $4 trillion annually,” he stressed. Many developing countries spend more on servicing debt than investing in their people. Calling for a stronger voice and participation for developing nations in reforming the global financial architecture, he emphasized that, even in the midst of all the work to be done, “I have enormous hope”.
Indeed, even this era of division has seen multilateralism produce tangible results, he said, from the 2024 Pact for the Future to the Sevilla Commitment on Financing for Development to the 2026 landmark High Seas Treaty.
“Countries have shown that cooperation is possible,” he said. “Let’s keep Agenda 2030’s vision alive.”
Lok Bahadur Thapa (Nepal), President of Economic and Social Council, agreed this year’s session is taking place at an immensely challenging time. Still, he pointed to today’s full meeting room, an indication that each nation understands that they cannot deliver on sustainable development alone.
Humanity’s Greatest Challenges Demand Collective Solutions
“Your presence sends a powerful message — that despite our differences, we still believe that humanity’s greatest challenges demand our collective solutions,” he said, “that our shared future is secured when nations choose cooperation over conflict, solidarity over suspicion and shared purpose over short-term advantage.”
Discussions at the High-Level Political Forum have revealed that the challenges facing humanity are “immense”, he continued. Today, only 36 per cent of measurable Sustainable Development Goals targets are on track or making moderate progress.
However, major strides have been made. Since 2015, extreme poverty has declined, hundreds of millions more people have gained access to safe drinking water, sanitation and electricity, and both child and maternal mortality have fallen. “But [this] is still far from the speed or scale this moment demands and that our people deserve,” he stressed.
Natural Disasters, Financial Shocks, Shrinking Fiscal Space
“For too many countries, particularly least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, sustainable development has become an exercise in constant recovery,” he said, citing increasing natural disasters, frequent financial shocks and shrinking fiscal space.
He said the 36 countries sharing their experiences at this year’s High-Level Political Forum are, therefore, helping the Council explore critical questions: How do we finance sustainable development? How do we strengthen institutions? How do we create opportunities for young people? How do we build resilience while continuing to grow?
“This is the value of this Forum,” he stressed, “to transform national experience into shared solutions, to deepen partnerships and to drive practical action that advances sustainable development.” With fewer than four years remaining until 2030, too many proven solutions are still moving too slowly to reach those who need them most.
Rather than just reporting cycles, he advocated for the remaining Forums leading up to 2030 to become “delivery cycles”. The Council’s responsibility is clear — not simply to review progress, but to help countries accelerate it.
In that regard, he called on leaders to remove bottlenecks, prioritize those furthest behind and “share what works”, adding: “Let us measure success not by what we have said, but by what has changed for the people we serve.”
Cross-Border Challenges Need Multilateral Solutions, Assembly President Says
Annalena Baerbock (Germany), President of the eightieth session of the General Assembly, also delivered opening remarks, agreeing that Member States should reject cynicism and accelerate the 2030 Agenda’s implementation.
She emphasized that the UN was not created to address easy problems but to help humanity navigate moments of crisis and difficult choices. The Sustainable Development Goals remain relevant precisely because multilateralism is under strain and myriad challenges such as climate change, poverty, digital inequality and hunger — “issues that cross borders need multilateral solutions”.
Pointing to progress on Sustainable Development Goal 7, on affordable and clean energy, she recalled that renewable power was widely dismissed as unrealistic just over a decade ago.
Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, however, she said Governments gradually strengthened their commitments, eventually agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels and triple global renewable-energy capacity by 2030. Low-carbon sources now account for more than 40 per cent of global electricity generation, while worldwide electricity access reached 92 per cent in 2024.
On Goal 9 — industry, innovation and infrastructure — she warned that progress is neither automatic nor sufficiently rapid. “Headwinds are not an excuse,” she stressed, urging coalitions of willing States to move forward when universal consensus cannot be achieved.
Citing progress on Goal 6, she pointed out that since 2015 nearly 1 billion people have gained access to safely managed drinking water and more than 1 billion to safely managed sanitation. These advances reduce disease and allow children, particularly girls, to spend less time collecting water and more time in school. But billions of people still remain excluded, making Goal 17, on partnerships, especially important.
Youth Demand Stronger Voice in Shaping Global Development Agenda
Rounding out the opening session was Jaewon Choi, Thematic Focal Point for the Tax, Financing for Development Children and Youth Constituency of the Major Group for Children and Youth. He called for urgent reforms to ensure that young people are treated as partners in shaping the UN and the global development agenda.
Speaking as both a representative of more than 20,000 youth organizations and a 17-year-old, he stressed that children and youth are severely underrepresented in international decision-making. “No generation is less represented in this hall,” he said, adding: “No generation is more affected by the consequences of what this institution decides.”
Young people face overlapping crises, including climate change, armed conflict, debt distress, rising living costs and technological inequality, he continued. Addressing those challenges requires renewed multilateral cooperation and fundamental reform of the international financial architecture.
Noting that highly indebted countries often have to cut education and social spending to make repayments, he said they are sacrificing the potential of an entire generation.
Against the backdrop of such difficult choices, he called for such urgent changes as designating seats for young people on the boards of multilateral development banks. Meanwhile, the Security Council requires reform in its membership structure and greater civil society participation is needed in matters of peace and security.
He cited one important recent stride made for young people — the 2024 Pact for the Future — commending that document and its negotiating process for treating young people as genuine partners, rather than merely “consulting” with them. “Do not simply listen to us,” he said, “respond, deliver and act with us.”
In addition, he touched on the recent budget cuts and other cost-reduction measures being imposed across the UN system, warning: “So-called efficiency that severs this Organization from young people, women, indigenous peoples and civil society is nothing more but mere retreat.”
The Economic and Social Council’s High-Level Political Forum continues until Wednesday, 15 July, featuring both panel discussions and Voluntary National Reviews.