earth show 777 five points youth foundation london leblanc magaziine

www.londonleblanclive.com

Andrew Williams, Jr. President Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc. 1820 West Florence Avenue Los Angeles, California 90047 Office: +1-323-752-1180 http://fivepointsyouthfoundation.org

Invitation to Businesses, Non-Profits, NGOs, Business Associations, Schools and Cities:

To join the United Nations Global Compact & FPYF Business for Peace Caring for Climate Campaign 2015-2020

Please join and invite 10 others each month 2015-2020 to join us to promote social justice and human rights, while combating Inequality and Climate Change through building community resiliency locally and globally via the United Nations Global Compact Local Network Framework connecting Nations, Indigenous Peoples and Peoples of African Descent worldwide using the Global Compact Management Model:

1. Commit to adapt the Ten Principles in your organizational and operational model. 2. Assess and focus your impact on United Nations and Global Compact issues. 3. Define goals and tasks to invite at least 10 new members each month to join

UNGC 2015-2020 4. Implement your plan of action. 5. Measure the results each month. 6. Communicate your successes through press releases, PSAs and to FPYF.

Five Points Youth Foundation will assist, coordinate and publicize your efforts (Online: http://facebook.com/groups/EncounterThinkTank) with those in your own and Local Networks where you have affiliate contacts so that you meet the requirements of the Communication on Engagement to be filed with the United Nations Global Compact The first step is for your organization’s top executive to complete the attached Commitment Letter and upload it and email us a copy when you register (free to non-profits and ngos):https://www.unglobalcompact.org/HowToParticipate/index.html Thank you, Skype: Andrew.williams.jr President Toll Free: +1-888-802-8599 [email protected] Mobile: +1-424-222-1997

http://facebook.com/groups/EncounterThinkTank

https://www.unglobalcompact.org/HowToParticipate/index.html

mailto:[email protected]

Andrew Williams, Jr.

President

Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc.

1820 West Florence Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90047

Office: +1-323-752-1180 http://fivepointsyouthfoundation.org

We Support the United Nations Global Compact The Ten Principles

The UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-

corruption enjoy universal consensus and are derived from:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights AND Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples

• The International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at

Work

• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

• The United Nations Convention Against Corruption

The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of

influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-

corruption:

Human Rights

• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed

human rights; and

• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition

of the right to collective bargaining;

• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly

technologies.

Anti-Corruption

• Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Sample Commitment Letter for Non-Business Organizations [Date] [Official Organization Letterhead] H.E. Ban Ki-Moon Secretary-General United Nations New York, NY 10017 USA Dear Mr. Secretary General, I am pleased to confirm that [name of the organization] supports the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With this commitment, we express our intent to support the Global Compact advancing these principles, and will make a clear statement of this commitment to our stakeholders and the general public. We also pledge to participate in and engage with the UN Global Compact in the following way(s): [please insert description of the ways in which your organization wishes to engage and participate; [please refer to http://unglobalcompact.org/HowToparficipate/non_business_parficipafion.html for suggested engagement options according to your organization type]. We recognize that a key requirement for participation in the Global Compact is the submission of a Communication on Engagement (COE) that describes our organization’s efforts to support the implementation of the ten principles and to engage with the Global Compact. We support public accountability and transparency, and therefore commit to report on progress within two years of joining the Global Compact and every two years thereafter according to the Global Compact COE policy. We commit to support and participate with the Five Points Youth Foundation 2015-2020 Business for Peace Caring for Climate Plan of Action. Sincerely yours, [Signature] [Name] [Title **president/Executive Director]


President





2015-2020 Business for Peace Caring for Climate Plan of Action

Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc. adapts the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Integrated Whole Community Model locally and nationally for community resiliency, as well as the United Nations Global Compact Local Networks internationally in support of Caring for Climate, Business 4 Peace and other U.N. Initiatives 2015-2020 via Global Partnerships for Development using collaborative arts and technology to address the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda and Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) throughout the Diaspora and the Earth, in compliance with the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption as to African Union 6th Region and Agenda 2063. Social Entrepreneurship We relentlessly pursue opportunities to serve this mission, while continuously adapting and learning. We draw upon appropriate thinking in both the business and nonprofit worlds and operate in all kinds of organizations: large and small; new and old; religious and secular; nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid, locally, nationally and globally. Neighborhood Empowerment and Economic Development Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policy makers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area. Such actions can involve multiple areas including development of human capital, critical infrastructure, regional competitiveness, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, health, safety, literacy, and other initiatives. STREAAM Education Initiatives STEM education is an acronym for the fields of study in the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. “R” represents “rivers” and the whole acronym reflects “Water” as the basic necessity for all life on Earth. We consider Art and Architecture to be core components in schooling from kindergarten through college to improve competitiveness in technology development. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns and immigration policy and our commitment to “regenerative” development solutions. Youth, Women, At-Risk and Unmet Needs Empowerment Programs Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, educational, and/or economic strength of individuals and communities. Civic Engagement, Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Resiliency Civic engagement is a means of working together to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of skills, knowledge, values, and motivation in order to make that difference.

A Global Compact for Sustainable Development

As Governments and the United Nations negotiate the post-2015 development agenda, which will include a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), businesses, investors and civil society are increasingly considered a positive force for sustainable development and are expected to play an important role in achieving the future SDGs. The UN Global Compact will during the final months of negotiations continue to inform the political processes and prepare the ground for corporate implementation of the SDGs, building on the existing corporate sustainability architecture. This note provides a brief overview of the UN Global Compact and those of its global and local platforms that are most relevant to the design and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

The World’s Largest Corporate Sustainability Initia tive The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, which has grown to over 8,000 corporate participants and 4,000 non-business participants based in 160 countries since its launch in 2000. In line with its UN General Assembly mandate to "promote responsible business practices and UN values among the global business community and the UN System", the UN Global Compact calls companies everywhere to voluntarily align their operations and strategies with ten universally-accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals.

Businesses are asked to respect and support these principles and goals, at a minimum, avoid causing or contributing to harm throughout their value chain. In addition, companies are encouraged to take action through their core business (i.e. products, services and business models), philanthropy, collective action and partnerships, and public policy advocacy to advance UN priorities, including future SDGs. Already, thousands of Global Compact participants around the world are contributing to global development priorities by aligning with the ten principles and through partnerships – both with other companies and with civil society, Governments and the UN – that deliver outcomes no sector can achieve alone. At the core of the UN Global Compact is a CEO commitment, which sends a strong signal throughout the organization that shifting towards sustainability is a strategic priority. The initiative, although voluntary, has a mandatory, annual reporting requirement and thousands of companies are publicly reporting on their strategies and activities related to corporate sustainability and sustainable development. The Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture The “Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture”, which was launched by the UN Secretary-General in September 2013, provides a framework for motivating and supporting global business in realizing its full potential to advance sustainable development through action, collaboration and co-investment. The Architecture illustrates the main building blocks necessary to enhance corporate sustainability as an effective contribution to sustainable development, creating value for both business and society. Each of these building blocks must be further strengthened and connected through a comprehensive and collective effort if they are to help take corporate sustainability to scale and turn business into a truly transformative force in the Post-2015 era. Individual companies, corporate sustainability organizations, Governments, investors, business schools, civil society, labour and consumers all have a role to play. The UN Global Compact’s approach is fully aligned with the Architecture.

Consultations and Advocacy Since the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum in June 2012, the UN Global Compact has consistently provided input to Governments, the UN Secretary-General and the UN system at large with a view to inform discussions that will ultimately lead to the adoption of a post-2015 framework in September 2015. The input provided builds on surveys, consultations and discussions among thousands of UN Global Compact business participants and Local Networks, focusing on which global development issues responsible business considers the key priorities and how to best engage business and investors in their implementation. In addition, the UN Global Compact actively contributes to the preparations of the Third Financing for Development Conference. Its outcome is expected to be critical in implementing the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The UN Global Compact, in collaboration with UNCTAD, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment and the UNEP Finance Initiative, has published the report entitled “Private Investment and Sustainable Development”. The report highlights the role institutional investors, banks, companies and foundations can play in the financing strategy for global sustainability, and it seeks promote the adoption and reporting of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors by businesses and investors, in order to achieve greater alignment of private investment with sustainable development.

Local Networks Facilitating Business Action and Partnerships Global Compact Local Networks exist in more than 85 countries with a view to help companies take sustainability action on the ground. They are organized and run locally – led by business but always bringing in key stakeholders. Local Networks foster learning, reporting, networking, partnerships and advocacy – all with the goal of advancing sustainability understanding and performance country by country. Local Networks can play an important role in local implementation of the SDGs and the definition of country-led bottom up accountability frameworks by facilitating corporate engagement, public-private multi-stakeholder dialogue, partnerships and collective action at the country level. Already, there are many notable examples of how these country networks – some of which have existed for over ten years – bring local corporate champions together with other stakeholders to address global priority issues, such as anti-corruption, peace building, climate change and gender equality, among others. Companies and their subsidiaries are encouraged to engage with Local Networks in this endeavour. In addition, through capacity-building initiatives, Local Networks are improving their abilities to broker effective multi-stakeholder partnerships to implement the SDGs, engage Global Compact participants, and contribute to enabling environments that advance multi-stakeholder, transformational partnerships.

Global Platforms and Partnerships for SDG Implementation The UN Global Compact has for over a decade developed a comprehensive global architecture that supports business engagement and platforms, which can provide great support for the implementation of the SDGs.

Issue Platforms The UN Global Compact together with UN partners hosts a number of global “issue platforms”, including Caring for Climate, the CEO Water Mandate, the Women’s Empowerment Principles and Business for Peace, which drive individual and collective business action related to specific sustainable development challenges. Each of these issue platforms have hundreds of business participants from across all regions of the world and offer scalable platform for engagement and SDG impact – connecting global frameworks and principles with local action and delivery. Each of these platforms has built-in accountability measures. Global Compact LEAD In 2011 the UN Secretary-General launched Global Compact LEAD with a view to facilitate action and collaboration by a group of the most engaged and committed Global Compact participants. The work taking place within Global Compact LEAD is helping to accelerate the full integration of business risk and opportunities related to sustainable development into all core corporate functions and business units, promoting such issues as strategically important for both the top management and the boards of directors. LEAD companies have played a key role in the UN Global Compact’s Post-2015 consultations and many are taking steps to align their own corporate sustainability goals with the future SDGs. In addition, LEAD companies have contributed to developing resources providing guidance, good practice examples, and lessons learned to increase partnership scale and impact, which can be leveraged to help advance the SDGs.

UN-Business Partnerships In line with the UN Global Compact’s General Assembly mandate and to advance the unprecedented levels of UN-business collaboration required to implement the new SDGs, the UN Global Compact continues to work to strengthen the UN System’s capacity to partner with business, including through coordination of a network of UN staff from across the Organization tasked with private sector engagement.The UN Global Compact coordinates the biennial report to the General Assembly under the agenda item “Towards Global Partnerships”, tracking important trends and opportunities to strengthen partnerships between the UN and business. The UN Global Compact also assists corporate participants and Local Networks navigate entry points to working with the UN through events and relationship-building initiatives. These include local projects designed to foster stronger relationships between the UN and Global Compact participants at the country level, as well as the development of tools, resources and learning opportunities to support multi-stakeholder, transformational partnerships. UN Global Compact Business Partnership Hub A notable feature of the new-era business sustainability movement is the adoption and use of technologies to drive implementation and partnerships. For example, the UN Global Compact Business Partnership Hub is an interactive, online platform designed to connect business with potential partners, including the UN, in support of societal goals. The Hub is a critical tool for assisting companies set goals, find partners, and scale up their contribution to implementing the SDGs. Through the Hub, companies and other organizations can find partners for their own projects or join existing ones. There are currently over 200 projects posted on the Hub and 400 organizations promoting partnership opportunities on the platform in areas such as Energy and Climate, Water and Sanitation. The UN-Business Partnership Hub, a prominent component of the Hub, is designed to better connect the UN and private sector to partner on a broad range of UN priorities. The platform showcases a wide array of partnership resources, inspirational partnership stories and guidance. Special SDG Projects On top of existing efforts and initiatives, the UN Global Compact is engaged in two projects that will help prepare individual companies for aligning their core business with the future SDGs: Business Action on Sustainable Development Goals While responsible businesses can provide an extraordinary boost to realizing the SDGs, furthering the SDGs can bring about prosperity and opportunity for the private sector. To harnesses the potential of this symbiosis, the UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have embarked on a new partnership project. The project will culminate in a guide that offers linkages between company management and global development priorities, and leads companies to scale up their impact assessment and goal setting practices. SDG Industry Matrix The UN Global Compact is collaborating with KPMG to create the SDG Industry Matrix, which will put forward examples of companies that make bold decisions and take actions to advance the SDGs. The SDG Industry Matrix takes an industry-specific lens to illustrate how the comparative strengths, resources, products or technologies of an industry can make it better suited to contribute to a particular SDG or issue. It can serve as a powerful tool to help companies understand how their products and services can be used for shared value – addressing the most pressing global challenges while seeking new business opportunities.


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UN Global Compact Expels 657 Companies in 2014

(New York, 14 January 2015) – The UN Global Compact today announced that it has expelled 372 companies in the second half of 2014 for failure to communicate progress for at least two consecutive years, bringing the total number of expelled companies in 2014 to 657. These expelled companies represent 10 percent of the 3,760 participants due to submit a Communication on Progress (COP) within the second half of 2014. A total of 197 companies achieved the GC Advanced level, reflecting an increased commitment to transparency and accountability.

The number of companies joining the UN Global Compact continues to exceed the number of expulsions, with 729 companies from around the world joining the initiative from July through December 2014.

Business participants in the Global Compact commit to make the ten principles part of their business strategies and day-to-day operations. As an integral part of their commitment, companies must issue an annual COP, a public disclosure to stakeholders (investors, consumers, civil society, Governments) on progress made in implementing the ten principles, and in supporting broader UN goals and issues. Companies that fail to submit a COP for two consecutive years have not fulfilled their commitment to the Global Compact and face expulsion from the initiative. A Communication on Engagement (COE) policy, introduced in October 2013, also requires non-business participants to disclose specific activities in support of the initiative to stakeholders every two years, as well as results. Non-business participants that fail to submit a COE every two years will also face expulsion from the initiative as of 31 October, 2015. The Global Compact offers customized and direct support to participants through its Relationship Management and Reporting teams, as well as through Local Networks in 86 countries. Companies of all types and in all regions are encouraged to take advantage of this valuable support to maximize their participation in the initiative. The Global Compact welcomes the international community to utilize this information to encourage more companies and other organizations to make a serious and enduring commitment to universal sustainability principles. Media Contact Kristen Coco Public Affairs and Media Relations UN Global Compact [email protected] +1 917-367-8566


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United Nations Global Compact Local Networks

Local networks are clusters of participants who come together to advance the United Nations Global Compact and its principles within a particular geographic context. They perform increasingly important roles in rooting the Global Compact within different national, cultural and language contexts, and also in helping to manage the organizational consequences of the Global Compact’s rapid expansion.

Their role is to facilitate the progress of companies (both local firms and subsidiaries of foreign corporations) engaged in the Global Compact with respect to implementation of the ten principles, while also creating opportunities for multi-stakeholder engagement and collective action. Furthermore, networks deepen the learning experience of all participants through their own activities and events and promote action in support of broader UN goals.

United Nations Global Compact: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/index.html

FREE Registration for Non-Profits and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)


President





December 15, 2014 H.E. Ban Ki-Moon Secretary-General United Nations New York, NY 10017 USA Dear Mr. Secretary General, I am pleased to confirm that Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc., supports the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With this commitment, we express our intent to support the Global Compact advancing these principles, and will make a clear statement of this commitment to our stakeholders and the general public. We also pledge to participate in and engage with the UN Global Compact in the following way(s);

• demonstrating, expanding and replicating community resiliency through neighborhood empowerment & economic development,

• to preserve cultures, promote education and encourage wealth creation models at the local level to impact neighborhoods, tribes, villages, towns and cities.

• using the Federal Emergency Management Agency Integrated Whole Community Model that localizes the Post-2015 Business Architecture Structure We recognize that a key requirement for participation in the Global Compact is the submission of a Communication on Engagement (COE) that describes our organization’s effort to support the implementation of the ten principles and to engage with the Global Compact. We support public accountability and transparency, and therefore commit to report on progress within two years of joining the Global Compact and every two years thereafter according to the Global Compact COE policy. Sincerely yours, Andrew Williams, Jr. President

UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES

POSTAL ADDRES5-ADRESSE POSTALE: UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. 10017

EMAIL: [email protected] TEL:+ 1212 963 1490

15 January, 2015

Dear Mr. Williams Jr,

Thank you for writing to the Secretary-General to express your organization's support for the Global Compact's principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anticorruption. We applaud your leadership in making this decision and welcome your organization's participation in the Global Compact - the world's largest corporate citizenship initiative, with thousands of business participants and other stakeholders from civil society, labour and government located in 120 countries.

At the heart of the Global Compact is a conviction that organizational practices rooted in universal principles help the global marketplace to be more socially and economically inclusive, thus advancing collective goals of international cooperation, peace and development. Indeed, companies and other organizations participating in the Global Compact are working diligently to give concrete meaning to this principle-based change approach.

From the beginning, the Global Compact has considered the active engagement of nonbusiness stakeholders a critical factor for making real progress. Your participation helps to foster this collaborative spirit which is so critical for tackling today's challenges.

The involvement of civil society, labour and the public sector serves many important purposes - bringing different strengths and perspectives to the corporate citizenship agenda. For example, these organizations provide expertise on issues, hold businesses accountable for their commitments, offer incentives and rewards for responsible actions, facilitate implementation of the principles, and serve as excellent partners on a variety of issues. We urge your organization to consider these and other relevant ways to advance the Global Compact. Additionally, you are encouraged to internalize the ten principles within your organization's strategies, policies and operations.

As a voluntary initiative, the Global Compact draws strength from our participants' commitment and actions. To spur implementation and progress, we provide various learning and engagement opportunities for signatories. These include: 60-plus country and regional networks

Mr. Andrew Williams Jr President Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc. Los Angeles

where issues and activities are driven at a local level; practical tools and guidance documents on the principles and other priority issues; and international and local events where multistakeholder participants can exchange experiences, partake in learning and problem-solving exercises, engage in dialogue and identify like-minded organizations for partnering projects.

Further details on such activities can be found in the attached guidance document, "Mter the Signature: A Guide to Engagement in the United Nations Global Compact" and on the Global Compact website (www.unglobalcompact.org).

Credibility and accountability are critical factors for advancing the Global Compact. We encourage all organizations engaged in the initiative to communicate with their stakeholders about efforts to promote and implement the initiative's ten principles and to engage in collaborative projects which advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Millennium Development Goals. To start, your organization may wish to inform stakeholders - such as members, employees and partners - and the general public about your decision to support the Global Compact.

Again, we thank you for joining the Global Compact. We are eager to hear your ideas and experiences, and encourage you to share your views with us. We stand ready to support your efforts to advance the initiative's ten universal principles and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

Yours sincerely,

Georg Kell Executive Director

UN Global Compact Office

--~-------------------------------------------


President





January 19, 2015 George Kell Executive Director UN Global Compact Office Dear Mr Kell, I am pleased to confirm that Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc., supports the objectives of the Caring for Climate initiative Launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2007. Caring for Climate (C4C) is a joint initiative between the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) aimed at advancing the role of business in climate change in five key areas: 1. Reduce emissions, set targets, and report annual performance 2. Devise a business strategy to approach climate risks and opportunities

3. Engage with policymakers to encourage scaled up climate action

4. Work collaboratively with other enterprises to tackle climate change

5. Become a climate-friendly business champion with stakeholders

In particular, we commit to work collaboratively with other enterprises both nationally and sectorally, and along our value-chains, to set standards and take joint initiatives aimed at reducing climate risks, assisting with adaptation to climate change and enhancing climate-related opportunities. We further commit to work collaboratively on joint initiatives between public and private sectors and through them achieve a comprehensive understanding of how both public and private sectors can best play a pro-active and leading role in meeting the climate challenge in an effective way through global partnerships for development. We invite the UN Global Compact to promote the public disclosure of actions taken by the signatories to the Caring for Climate Statement and, in cooperation with UNEP, communicate on this on a regular basis. Sincerely yours, Andrew Williams, Jr. President

United Nations A/69/700

General Assembly Distr.: General

4 December 2014

Original: English

14-66172 (E) 221214

*1466172*

Sixty-ninth session

Agenda items 13 (a) and 115

Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up

to the outcomes of the major United Nations conference and

summits in the economic, social and related fields

Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit

The road to dignity by 2030: ending poverty, transforming all lives and protecting the planet

Synthesis report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015

sustainable development agenda

Summary

The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/6,

in which Member States requested the Secretary-General to synthesize the full range

of inputs available on the post-2015 development agenda and to present a synthesis

report before the end of 2014, as an input to the intergovernmental negotiations.

Drawing from the experience of two decades of development practice and from

the inputs gathered through an open and inclusive process, the report charts a road

map to achieve dignity in the next 15 years. The repor t proposes one universal and

transformative agenda for sustainable development, underpinned by rights, and with

people and the planet at the centre. An integrated set of six essential elements is

provided to help frame and reinforce the sustainable develop ment agenda and ensure

that the ambition and vision expressed by Member States communicates and is

delivered at the country level: (a) dignity: to end poverty and fight inequality;

(b) people: to ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the inclusion of women and

children; (c) prosperity: to grow a strong, inclusive and transformative economy;

(d) planet: to protect our ecosystems for all societies and our children; (e) justice: to

promote safe and peaceful societies and strong institutions; and (f) partnershi p: to

catalyse global solidarity for sustainable development.

A/69/700

14-66172 2/34

The report also underscores that an integrated sustainable development agenda

requires an equally synergistic framework of means for its implementation, including

financing, technology and investments in sustainable development capacities. In

addition, the report calls for embracing a culture of shared responsibility in order to

ensure that promises made become actions delivered. To this effect, the report

proposes a framework to be able to monitor and review implementation, based on

enhanced statistical capacities and tapping into the potential of new and non-traditional

data sources, and a United Nations system “fit for purpose” to address the challenges

of the new agenda. Achieving dignity in the next 15 years is possible if we

collectively mobilize political will and the necessary resources to strengthen the

multilateral system and our nations.

Contents Page

I. A universal call to action to transform our world beyond 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

II. A synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

A. What we have learned from two decades of development experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

B. What we have learned from the discussion of the post-2015 sustainable development

agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

C. Shared ambitions for a shared future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

III. Framing the new agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

A. Setting the stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

B. A transformational approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

C. Six essential elements for delivering on the sustainable development goals . . . . . . . . . . . 16

D. Integrating the six essential elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

IV. Mobilizing the means to implement our agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

A. Financing our future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

B. Technology, science and innovation for a sustainable future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

C. Investing in capacities for sustainable development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

V. Delivering our agenda: a shared responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

A. Measuring the new dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

B. Lighting the way: the role of data in the new agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

C. Gauging our progress: monitoring, evaluation and reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

D. Making the United Nations fit for transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

VI. Conclusion: together in a universal compact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A/69/700

3/34 14-66172

“We recognize that people are at the centre of sustainable development and, in this

regard, we strive for a world that is just, equitable and inclusive, and we commit to

work together to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social

development and environmental protection and thereby to benefit all.”

Outcome document of the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development (Rio+20), “The future we want”

I. A universal call to action to transform our world beyond 2015

1. The year 2015 offers a unique opportunity for global leaders and people to end

poverty and to transform the world to better meet human needs and the necessities

of economic transformation, while protecting our environment, ensuring peace and

realizing human rights.

2. We are at a historic crossroads, and the direction we take will determine

whether we will succeed or fail in fulfilling our promises. With our globalized

economy and sophisticated technology, we can decide to end the age-old ills of

extreme poverty and hunger. Or we can continue to degrade our planet and allow

intolerable inequalities to sow bitterness and despair. Our ambition is to achieve

sustainable development for all.

3. Young people will be the torchbearers of the next sustainable development

agenda through 2030. We must ensure that this transition, while protecting the

planet, leaves no one behind. We have a shared responsibility to embark on a path to

inclusive and shared prosperity in a peaceful and resilient world , where human

rights and the rule of law are upheld.

4. Transformation is our watchword. At this moment in time, we are called upon

to lead and act with courage. We are called upon to embrace change. Change in our

societies. Change in the management of our economies. Change in our relationship

with our one and only planet.

5. In doing so, we can more fully respond to the needs of our time and deliver on

the timeless promise made at the birth of the United Nations.

6. Seventy years ago, in adopting the founding Charter of the Organization, the

nations of the world made a solemn commitment in the preamble “to save

succeeding generations from the scourge of war … to reaffirm faith in fundamental

human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of

men and women and of nations large and small … to establish conditions under

which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources

of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better

standards of life in larger freedom”.

7. Building on this core promise, in the Declaration on the Right to Development

(1986), the General Assembly called for an approach that would guarantee the

meaningful participation of all in development and in the fair distribution of its

benefits.

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8. Humankind has achieved impressive progress over the past seven decades. We

have reduced violence and we have established global institutions, a code of agreed

universal principles and a rich tapestry of international law. We have witnessed

stunning technological progress, millions upon millions lifted from poverty,

millions more empowered, diseases defeated, life expectancies on the rise,

colonialism dismantled, new nations born, apartheid conquered, democratic

practices taken deeper root and vibrant economies built in all regions.

9. Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

(“Earth Summit”) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we have identified a new pathway to

human well-being, the path of sustainable development. The Millennium

Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals articulated in 2000 placed

people at the centre, generating unprecedented improvement in the lives of many

around the world. The global mobilization behind the Millennium Development

Goals showed that multilateral action can make a tangible difference.

10. Yet conditions in today’s world are a far cry from the vision of the Charter.

Amid great plenty for some, we witness pervasive poverty, gross inequalities,

joblessness, disease and deprivation for billions. Displacement is at its highest level

since the Second World War. Armed conflict, crime, terrorism, persecution,

corruption, impunity and the erosion of the rule of law are daily realities. The

impacts of the global economic, food and energy crises are still being felt. The

consequences of climate change have only just begun. These failings and

shortcomings have done as much to define the modern era as has our progress in

science, technology and the mobilization of global social movements.

11. Our globalized world is marked by extraordinary progress alongside

unacceptable — and unsustainable — levels of want, fear, discrimination,

exploitation, injustice and environmental folly at all levels.

12. We also know, however, that these problems are not accidents of nature or the

results of phenomena beyond our control. They result from actions and omissions of

people, public institutions, the private sector and others charged with protecting

human rights and upholding human dignity.

13. We have the know-how and the means to address these challenges, but we

need urgent leadership and joint action now.

14. These are universal challenges. They demand new levels of multilateral action,

based on evidence and built on shared values, principles and priorities for a

common destiny.

15. Our global commitments under the Charter should compel us to act. Our sense

of empathy and enlightened self-interest should compel us to act. Our

responsibilities as stewards of the planet should equally compel us to act. None of

today’s threats respect boundaries drawn by human beings, whether those

boundaries are national borders or boundaries of class, ability, age, gender,

geography, ethnicity or religion.

16. In an irreversibly interconnected world, the challenges faced by any become

the challenges faced by each of us — sometimes gradually, but often suddenly.

However, facing these vexing challenges is not simply a burden, it is, far more, an

opportunity to forge new partnerships and alliances that can work together to

advance the human condition.

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17. The experience of implementing the Millennium Development Goals provides

compelling evidence that the international community can be mobilized to confront

such complex challenges. Governments, civil society and a wide range of

international actors coalesced behind the Goals in a multi-front battle against poverty

and disease. They generated innovative approaches, vital new data, new resources and

new tools and technology for this struggle. Transparency was enhanced, multilateral

approaches were strengthened and a results-based approach to public policy was

fostered. Sound public policies inspired by the Goals, enhanced by collective action

and international cooperation, led to remarkable successes. In the two decades since

1990, the world has halved extreme poverty, lifting 700 million out of extreme

poverty. In the decade between 2000 and 2010, an estimated 3.3 million deaths from

malaria were averted and 22 million lives were saved in the fight against tuberculosis.

Access to antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected people has saved 6.6 million lives

since 1995. At the same time, gender parity in primary school enrolment, access to

child and maternal health care and in women’s political participation has improved

steadily.1

18. We must invest in the unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals,

and use them as a springboard into the future we want, a future free from poverty

and built on human rights, equality and sustainability. This is our duty, and it must

be the legacy we strive to leave for our children.

19. In our quest to shape a global sustainable development agenda for the years

beyond 2015, the international community has embarked upon an unprecedented

process. Never before has so broad and inclusive a consultation been undertaken on

so many matters of global concern. In the two short years since the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development laid the cornerstone for the post-2015

sustainable development process, all Member States, the entire United Nations

system, experts and a cross-section of civil society, business and, most importantly,

millions of people from all corners of the globe, have committed themselves to this

crucially important journey. This, in itself, is reason for great hope. The creativity

and shared sense of purpose that has emerged across the human family is proof that

we can come together to innovate and collaborate in search of solutions and the

common good.

20. Having now opened the tent wide to a broad constituency, we must recognize

that the legitimacy of this process will rest , in significant measure, on the degree to

which the core messages that we have received are reflected in the final outcome.

This is no time to succumb to political expediency or to tolerate the lowest common

denominator. The new threats that face us, and the new opportunities that present

themselves, demand a high level of ambition and a truly participatory, responsive

and transformational course of action.

21. This includes tackling climate change. As underscored by the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change, climate change exacerbates threats. It makes delivering

on the sustainable development agenda more difficult because it reverses positive

trends, creates new uncertainties and raises the costs of resilience.

22. This enterprise cannot, therefore, be business as usual.

__________________

1 See Millennium Development Goals Report 2014.

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23. People across the world are looking to the United Nations to rise to the

challenge with a truly transformative agenda that is both universal and adaptable to

the conditions of each country, and that places people and the planet at the centre.

Their voices have underscored the need for democracy, the rule of law, civic space

and more effective governance and capable institutions, for new and innovative

partnerships, including with responsible business and effective local authorities , and

for a data revolution, rigorous accountability mechanisms and renewed global

partnerships. People throughout the world have also stressed that the credibility of

the new agenda rests on the means that are available to implement it.

24. Three high-level international meetings in 2015 give us the opportunity to

chart a new era of sustainable development. The first will be the third International

Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Addis Ababa in July, where

a compact for a global partnership may be realized. The second will be the special

summit on sustainable development, to be held at United Nations Headquarters in

New York in September, where the world will embrace the new agenda and a set of

sustainable development goals, which we hope will mark a paradigm shift for

people and the planet. The third will be the twenty-first session of the Conference of

the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be

held in Paris in December, at which Member States have pledged to adopt a new

agreement to tackle a threat that could make it more difficult to deliver on the new

sustainable development agenda.

25. The stars are aligned for the world to take historic action to transform lives

and protect the planet. I urge Governments and people everywhere to fulfil thei r

political and moral responsibilities. This is my call to dignity, and we must respond

with all our vision and strength.

II. A synthesis

“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for

development accorded the individual.”

Albert Einstein

A. What we have learned from two decades of development experience

26. There is much that is new and, indeed, transformational in the global

conversation on a post-2015 sustainable development agenda. But the roots of this

conversation are deep, extending to the experience of the development community

over the last 20 years and to the visionary outcomes of the global conferences of the

1990s: the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

(Earth Summit), the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Development Goals of

2000, the 2005 World Summit, the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development

Goals and the lead-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20) in 2012.

27. The cornerstone for the current global process of renewal was established in

Rio de Janeiro in June of 2012, with the adoption of the outcome document of the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development “The future we want”. The

document described the lessons learned from two decades of development

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experience and provided an extensive assessment of the progress and gaps in the

implementation of the sustainable development agenda.

28. While insufficient and uneven, progress has been remarkable. Only two short

decades ago, close to 40 per cent of the population of the developing world lived in

extreme poverty, and the notion of poverty eradication seemed inconceivable.

Following profound and consistent gains, we now know that extreme poverty can be

eradicated within one more generation. The Millennium Development Goals have

greatly contributed to this progress, and have taught us how Governments, business

and civil society can work together to achieve transformational breakthroughs.

29. We have witnessed significant progress in several least developed countries

over the past two decades. During the same period, middle-income countries have

become new engines of global growth, lifting many of their own citizens out of

poverty and creating a sizeable middle class. Some countries have shown real

progress in reducing inequalities. Others have attained universal health coverage.

Still others have evolved into some of the world’s most advanced and digitally

connected societies. Wages have increased, social protection has been expanded,

green technologies have taken root and educational standards have advanced.

Several countries have emerged from conflict and made steady gains on the road to

reconstruction, peace and development. These wide-ranging experiences

demonstrate that vulnerability and exclusion can be overcome, and what is possible

in the years ahead.

30. New demographic trends are changing our world. We are already a global

family of 7 billion people, and we are likely to reach 9 billion by 2050. We are an

ageing world, as people live longer and healthier lives. We are increasingly an urban

world, with more than half the world’s population living in towns and cities. And we

are a mobile world, with more than 232 million international migrants, and almost

1 billion when internal migrants are counted. These trends will have direct impacts

on our goals and present both challenges and opportunities.

31. We see how new technologies can open up more sustainable approaches and

more efficient practices. We know that the public sector can raise significantly more

revenue by reforming tax systems, fighting tax evasion, correcting inequities and

combating corruption. We know that there is an enormous amount of untapped and

wasted resources that can be directed to sustainable development. We know that

forward-looking companies are taking the lead by transforming their business

models for sustainable development, and that we have only scratched the surface of

the potential for ethics-driven investment by the private sector. With the right

incentives, policies, regulations and monitoring, great opportunities may present

themselves. We know that a data revolution is unfolding, allowing us to see more

clearly than ever where we are and where we need to go, and to ensure that

everyone is counted in. We know that creative initiatives across the world are

pioneering new models of sustainable production and consumption that can be

replicated. We know that governance at both the national and international levels

can be reformed to more efficiently serve twenty-first century realities. And we

know that today our world is host to the first truly globalized, interconnected and

highly mobilized civil society, ready and able to serve as a participant, joint steward

and powerful engine of change and transformation.

32. We have already begun to steer our course towards transformation.

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33. The discussion on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda has stressed

the importance of the specific conditions in each country, an advance in perspective

from the Millennium Development Goals framework. Special attention was required

for the most vulnerable, in particular African countries, the least developed

countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing

States. Particular attention should also be given to the challenges faced by middle-

income countries and countries in situations of fragility and conflict.

34. Member States have emphasized that sustainable development must be

inclusive and people-centred. They have underscored the importance of ecosystems

to people’s livelihoods — to their economic, social, physical and mental well-being

and their cultural heritage — of “Mother Earth” as it is known in many traditions.

35. Member States have also underscored the need to improve measures of

progress, such as gross domestic product (GDP), in order to better inform policy

decisions. While acknowledging the natural and cultural diversity of the world, they

have also recognized that all cultures and civilizations can contribute to sustainable

development. Finally, they have called for holistic and integrated approaches to

sustainable development that will guide humanity to live in harmony with the

planet’s fragile ecosystems.

B. What we have learned from the discussion of the post-2015

sustainable development agenda

36. The international community has come a long way in its deliberations on the

sustainable development agenda. In July 2013, further to a request by the General

Assembly, I submitted my report A life of dignity for all (A/68/202 and Corr.1). In

it, I recommended the development of a universal, integrated and human rights -

based agenda for sustainable development, addressing economic growth, social

justice and environmental stewardship and highlighting the link between peace,

development and human rights — an agenda that leaves no one behind. I also called

for rigorous review and monitoring, better and more disaggregated data and goals

and targets that are measurable and adaptable. I outlined a number of transformative

actions that would apply to all countries.2

37. Many voices have informed this debate, and there have been valuable inputs

from a wide range of stakeholders:

(a) People around the world aired their views through the unprecedented

consultations and outreach efforts of organized civil society groups , as well as

through the global conversation led by the United Nations Development Group on

“A Million Voices: The World We Want”, “Delivering the Post-2015 Agenda:

Opportunities at the National and Local Levels”, and the “MY World” survey.

Millions of people, especially young persons, took part in these processes, through

national, thematic and online consultations and surveys, as mirrored in the “Global

Youth Call” and the outcome of the sixty-fifth annual United Nations Department of

Public Information/Non-governmental Organizations Conference. The direct and

active engagement of parliamentarians, business and civil society has also been

critical;

__________________

2 A/68/202 and Corr.1, sect. III.A.

http://undocs.org/A/68/202


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(b) The leaders of the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015

Development Agenda called for five “transformative shifts” : (i) leave no one

behind; (ii) put sustainable development at the core; (iii) transform economies for

jobs and inclusive growth; (iv) build peace and effective, open and accountable

public institutions; and (v) forge a new global partnership;

(c) The academics and scientists convened through the Sustainable

Development Solutions Network recommended the adoption of a science -based and

action-oriented agenda, integrating four interdependent dimensions of sustainable

development (economic, social, environmental and governance);

(d) The key role of business in the post-2015 sustainable development

agenda was distilled in the report of the United Nations Global Compact.

Companies are ready to change how they do business and to contribute by

transforming markets from within and making production, consumption and the

allocation of capital more inclusive and sustainable;

(e) The reports of the regional commissions highlighted the importance of

regional efforts in adapting globally agreed goals and policy priorities t o nationally

specific realities;

(f) The experiences and expertise of the United Nations system were set out

in the report of the United Nations system task team on the post-2015 development

agenda and the work of the technical support team;

(g) At the principal level, leadership and guidance was received through the

United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB);

(h) The members of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability

recommended a sustainable path to enhance human well-being, further global

justice, strengthen gender equality and preserve the Earth’s life-support systems for

future generations.

38. Throughout 2014, Member States exchanged views and consolidated their

ideas through the work of existing United Nations development entities. The

Economic and Social Council and its functional and regional commissions,

committees and expert bodies have identified the potential elements of the post-

2015 review and monitoring framework and explored how to adapt the United

Nations development system and its operational activities to respond to changes in

the development landscape. The Development Cooperation Forum provided useful

policy space for stakeholders to discuss the implications of a unified and universal

agenda, the global partnership, modalities for more effective review and monitoring

and concrete actions by development cooperation partners from the global South on

common challenges. The high-level political forum on sustainable development has,

from its inaugural session in 2013, turned its attention to the post -2015 sustainable

development agenda, with leaders calling for a coherent approach and noting the

important role that it can play in reviewing and monitoring.

39. At the close of 2014, we note positively the completion of the intergovernmental

processes established by the Rio+20 Conference.

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40. In a series of structured dialogues on technology in the General Assembly,3

possible arrangements were considered for a facilitation mechanism to promote the

development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound

technologies.

41. The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development

Financing delivered its report on options for an effective sustainable development

financing strategy in August 2014.4 The Committee proposed a basket of more than

100 options for policymakers, together with recommendations for a global

partnership that encompasses key aspects of aid, trade, debt, taxation and financial

market stability. It recommended individual, country-owned financing strategies,

rooted in enabling national policy environments and complemented by a reformed

international enabling environment. It recognized that all sources of financing

would need to be employed, public and private, national and international.

42. Throughout 2014, the President of the General Assembly convened a series of

valuable gatherings. These included three high-level events on the contributions of

women, youth and civil society, on human rights and the rule of law and on the

contributions of North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation and

information and communications technology for development. Three thematic

debates were held on the role of partnerships, on ensuring stable and peaceful

societies and on water, sanitation and sustainable energy. These were followed by a

dialogue on accountability in the General Assembly and in each region under the

auspices of the respective United Nations regional commission. In September of

2014, the President convened a high-level stocktaking event on the post-2015

development agenda.

43. Importantly, the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable

Development Goals delivered the results of its historic deliberations in July 2014, 5

providing a narrative grounded in the outcome document of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development, emphasizing poverty eradication,

environmental sustainability, inclusive growth, equality and a people-centred

agenda for sustainable development.

44. Following more than a year of inclusive and intensive consultative

deliberations, the Open Working Group proposed 17 specific goals with 169 associated

targets,6 which it described as action-oriented, global in nature and universally

applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of

development. It sought to combine aspirational global targets , with country-specific

targets to be set nationally.

45. In addition to reinforcing the commitment to the unfinished Millennium

Development Goals, the sustainable development goals break new ground with

goals on inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements,

industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production,

peace, justice and institutions. The environmental dimension is articulated across

the whole sustainable development agenda. The sustainable development goals are

underpinned with a goal on global partnerships for the means of implementation.

__________________

3 See A/69/554.

4 A/69/315.

5 A/68/970 and Corr.1, annex.

6 Ibid., para. 18.




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46. Mechanisms to review the implementation of the goals will be needed, and the

availability of and access to data would need to be improved, including the

disaggregation of information by gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status,

disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant to national

contexts.

47. Finally, in its recent report, “A World That Counts”, my Independent Expert

Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development called for the

closing of key data gaps between developed and developing countries, between

information-rich and information-poor people and between the private and public

sectors. It underscored the importance of increasing access to qual ity data,

remedying inequalities in the areas of access to information and data literacy,

promoting civic space and enhancing the sharing of data and information. It also

called for the strengthening of national institutions to provide capacities for

statistics and the interface with new technologies.

C. Shared ambitions for a shared future

48. Across all of these contributions and milestones, a common understanding

has emerged that there must be a universal agenda. Humankind faces the same

global challenges, and today’s problems transcend borders — even in the richest

countries there can be destitution and exclusion. Universality implies that all

countries will need to change, each with its own approach, but each with a sense of

the global common good. Universality is the core attribute of human rights and

intergenerational justice. It compels us to think in terms of shared responsibilities

for a shared future. It demands policy coherence. Universality embodies a new

global partnership for sustainable development in the spirit of the Charter of the

United Nations.

49. All voices have called for a people-centred and planet-sensitive agenda to

ensure human dignity, equality, environmental stewardship, healthy economies,

freedom from want and fear and a renewed global partnership for sustainable

development. Tackling climate change and fostering sustainable development

agendas are two mutually reinforcing sides of the same coin. To achieve these ends,

all have called for a transformational and universal post-2015 sustainable

development agenda, buttressed by science and evidence and built on the principles

of human rights and the rule of law, equality and sustainability.

50. All contributions emphasized that we should continue the march to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals, but they also stressed that Member States will

need to fill key sustainable development gaps left by the Goals, such as the

multidimensional aspects of poverty, decent work for young people, social

protection and labour rights for all. They have asked for inclusive and sustainable

cities, infrastructure and industrialization. They have called for strengthening

effective, accountable, participatory and inclusive governance; for free expression,

information, and association; for fair justice systems; and for peaceful societies and

personal security for all.

51. All voices have demanded that we leave no one behind, ensuring equality,

non-discrimination, equity and inclusion at all levels. We must pay special attention

to the people, groups and countries most in need. This is the century of women: we

will not realize our full potential if half of humanity continues to be held back. We

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need to include the poor, children, adolescents, youth and the aged, as well as the

unemployed, rural populations, slum dwellers, persons with disabilities, indigenous

peoples, migrants, refugees and displaced persons, vulnerable groups and minorities.

These also include those affected by climate change, those living in the least

developed countries, landlocked countries, small island developing States, middle-

income countries, conflict countries or in areas under occupation, in places struck

by complex medical and humanitarian emergencies or in situations affected by

terrorism. People have called for an end to all forms of gender inequality, gender-

based discrimination and violence against women and against children and young

boys and girls.

52. The public discourse has underscored the call for the urgent need to recognize

and address the trust deficit between Governments, institutions and the people.

Providing an enabling environment to build inclusive and peaceful societies, ensure

social cohesion and respect for the rule of law will require rebuilding institutions at

the country level to ensure that the gains from peace are not reversed.

53. All parties want action to address climate change, to accelerate the reduction

of greenhouse gas emissions and to keep the rise in global average temperature

below 2 degrees Celsius on the basis of equity for present and future generations

and in accordance with common but differentiated responsibilities and respective

capabilities. All also want to preserve our oceans, marine resources, terrestrial

ecosystems and forests.

54. All participants call for meaningful transformations of our economies. They

call for making our patterns of growth more inclusive, sustained and sustainable.

People want decent jobs, social protection, robust agricultural systems and rural

prosperity, sustainable cities, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, resilient

infrastructure and sustainable energy for all. These transformations will also help

tackle climate change. We have also heard strong calls to reform international trade,

ensure effective regulation of markets and financial actors and to take vigorous

action to fight corruption, curb illicit financial flows, combat money-laundering and

tax evasion and recover stolen and hidden assets.

55. All inputs have underscored the need to integrate economic, social and

environmental dimensions across the new agenda. To make this happen, they want

norm-based policy coherence at all levels, corresponding reform of global

governance mechanisms and a renewed effective global partnership for sustainable

development. These, they tell us, should be based on solidarity, cooperation, mutual

accountability and the participation of Governments and all stakeholders.

56. All voices have asked for a rigorous and participatory review and monitoring

framework to hold Governments, businesses and international organizations

accountable to the people for results, and to ensure that no harm is done to the

planet. And they have called for a data revolution to make information and data

more available, more accessible and more broadly disaggregated, as well as for

measurable goals and targets and a participatory mechanism to review

implementation at the national, regional and global levels.

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III. Framing the new agenda

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and

apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and

eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be

great. You can be that generation. Let your greatness bloom.”

Nelson Mandela

A. Setting the stage

57. At this moment, a truly universal and transformational course is being set.

From the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, to Rio+20 and the

report of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable

Development Goals5 a remarkably consistent vision has emerged.

58. Because human dignity and planetary sustainability cannot be reduced to a

simple formula, because their constituent elements are so interdependent and

because sustainable development is a complex phenomenon, the proposal by the

Open Working Group of such a far-reaching set of goals and targets is to be

welcomed as a remarkable step forward in the international community ’s quest for

effective solutions to an increasingly complex global agenda.

59. As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I therefore welcome the outcome

produced by the Open Working Group (see table 1). I congratulate the leadership

and all who participated in its groundbreaking work. I take positive note of the

decision of the General Assembly that the proposal of the Working Group be the

main basis for the post-2015 intergovernmental process.

60. In the coming months, the Member States of the United Nations will negotiate

the final parameters of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. That agenda

should include a compelling and principled narrative, building on the outcomes of

the major global conferences, including the Millennium Summit, the outcome of the

2005 World Summit, the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, the

outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and the

voices of the people as conveyed in the post-2015 process. The agenda should also

call for full consistency with current political commitments and existing obligations

under international law. It should include concrete goals, together with measurable

and achievable targets. This should demonstrate the important interrelationship

between the goals and targets. Importantly, it must respond to the capacity

challenges of countries with varying capabilities and weaker institutions. Countries

must not be overly burdened by an agenda that creates additional challenges rather

than alleviating burdens. The agenda will require serious commitments for financing

and other means of implementation, including those to be agreed upon at the third

International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in July

2015 and at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015. And

it should include strong, inclusive public mechanisms at all levels for reporting,

monitoring progress, learning lessons and ensuring mutual accountability.

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Table 1

Sustainable development goals

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition

and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and

promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water

and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern

energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic

growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and

sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient

and sustainable

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its

impacts*

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine

resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial

ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and

halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable

development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,

accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the

global partnership for sustainable development

* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating

the global response to climate change.

Source: A/68/970 and Corr.1.


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61. Success will equally depend on the power of the new agenda to inspire and

mobilize essential actors, new partnerships, key constituencies and the broader

global citizenry. For this, we will need an agenda that resonates with the

experiences and needs of people, that can be understood and embraced. The agenda

and goals should also be received at the country level in a way that will ensure the

transition of the Millennium Development Goals to the broader and more

transformative sustainable development agenda, effectively becoming an integral

part of national and regional visions and plans.

62. In this regard, we must recall and take note of the mandate given to the

General Assembly by the Member States at the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development, at which they declared that the:

“Sustainable development goals should be action-oriented, concise and easy to

communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally

applicable to all countries, while taking into account different national

realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies

and priorities”

(Resolution 66/288, annex, para. 247).

63. Member States have agreed that the agenda laid out by the Open Working

Group will be the main basis for the post-2015 intergovernmental process. We now

have the opportunity to frame the goals and targets in a way that reflects the

ambition of a universal and transformative agenda. I note, in particular, the

possibility of maintaining the 17 goals and rearranging them in a focused and

concise manner that enables the necessary global awareness and implementati on at

the country level.

B. A transformational approach

64. I wish to propose an integrated set of six essential elements, which, taken

together, aim to facilitate the deliberations of Member States ahead of the special

summit on sustainable development in September 2015, and enable them to arrive at

the concise and aspirational agenda mandated by the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development.

65. The essential elements underscore the urgency of a universal call to commit to

a set of principles that, applied together, can bring about a truly universal

transformation of sustainable development. Thus, as we implement the new agenda,

we must:

• Commit to a universal approach, including solutions that address all countries

and all groups;

• Integrate sustainability into all activities, mindful of economic, environmental

and social impacts;

• Address inequalities in all areas, agreeing that no goal or target should be

considered met unless it is met for all social and economic groups;

• Ensure that all actions respect and advance human rights, in full coherence

with international standards;

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People: to ensure healthy lives,

knowledge and the inclusion

of women and children

Dignity: to end poverty

and fight

inequalities

Prosperity: to grow a strong,

inclusive and

transformative

economy

Justice: to promote safe and

peaceful societies and

strong institutions

Partnership: to catalyse

global solidarity

for sustainable

development

Planet: to protect our

ecosystems

for all

societies

and our

children

Sustainable

Development

Goals

• Address the drivers of climate change and its consequences;

• Base our analysis on credible data and evidence, enhancing data capacity,

availability, disaggregation, literacy and sharing;

• Expand our global partnership for means of implementation to maximum effect

and full participation, including multi-stakeholder, issue-based coalitions;

• Anchor the new compact in a renewed commitment to international solidarity,

commensurate with the ability of each country to contribute.

C. Six essential elements for delivering on the sustainable

development goals

66. The following six essential elements would help frame and reinforce the

universal, integrated and transformative nature of a sustainable development agenda

and ensure that the ambition expressed by Member States in the report of the Open

Working Group translates, communicates and is delivered at the country level ( see

figure I).

Figure I

Six essential elements for delivering the sustainable development goals

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Dignity: to end poverty and fight inequalities

67. Eradicating poverty by 2030 is the overarching objective of the sustainable

development agenda. We live in a world of plenty, and at a moment of enormous

scientific promise. And yet, for hundreds and hundreds of millions across the globe,

this is also an age of gnawing deprivation. The defining challenge of our time is to

close the gap between our determination to ensure a life of dignity for all, and the

reality of persisting poverty and deepening inequality.

68. While we have made important progress in recent years, addressing gender

inequality and realizing women’s empowerment and rights remain a key challenge

in all regions of the world. It should by now be recognized that no society can reach

its full potential if whole segments of that society, especially young people, are

excluded from participating in, contributing to and benefiting from development.

Other dimensions of inequality persist, and in some cases have worsened. Income

inequality specifically is one of the most visible aspects of a broader and more

complex issue, one that entails inequality of opportunity. This is a universal

challenge that the whole world must address. The agenda must accommodate the

voices of women and the views of youth and minorities, seek the free, prior and

informed consent of indigenous peoples, remove obstacles to full participation by

persons with disabilities, older persons, adolescents and youth and empower the

poor. It must not exclude migrants, refugees, displaced persons or persons affected

by conflict and occupation.

People: to ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the inclusion of women

and children

69. Millions of people, especially women and children, have been left behind in

the wake of unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals. We must

ensure that women and also youth and children have access to the full range of

health services. We must ensure zero tolerance of violence against or exploitation of

women and girls. Women and girls must have equal access to financial services and

the right to own land and other assets. All children and adolescents have a right to

education and must have a safe environment in which to learn. Human development

also means respect for human rights.

70. The agenda must address universal health-care coverage, access and

affordability; end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths and malnutrition;

ensure the availability of essential medicines; realize women’s sexual and reproductive

health and reproductive rights; ensure immunization coverage; eradicate malaria and

realize the vision of a future free of AIDS and tuberculosis; reduce the burden of

non-communicable diseases, including mental illness, and of nervous system

injuries and road accidents; and promote healthy behaviours, including those related

to water, sanitation and hygiene.

71. Today, more than ever, the realities of 1.8 billion young people and

adolescents represent a dynamic, informed and globally connected engine for

change. Integrating their needs, rights to choice and their voices in the new agenda

will be a key factor for success. It is essential that young people receive relevant

skills and quality education and lifelong learning, from early childhood

development to post-primary schooling, including life skills and vocational

education and training, as well as science, sports and culture. Teachers must be

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given the means to deliver learning and knowledge in response to a safe global

workplace, driven by technology.

Prosperity: to grow a strong, inclusive and transformative economy

72. Economic growth should lead to shared prosperity. The strength of an

economy must be measured by the degree to which it meets the needs of people, and

by how sustainably and equitably it does so. We need inclusive growth, built on

decent jobs, sustainable livelihoods and rising real incomes for all, measured in

ways that go beyond GDP and account for human well-being, sustainability and

equity. Ensuring that all people, including women, persons with disabilities, youth,

the aged and migrants have decent employment, social protection and access to

financial services, will be a hallmark of our economic success.

73. Innovation and investment in sustainable and resilient infrastructure, cities and

human settlements, industrialization, small and medium-sized enterprises, energy

and technology can both generate employment and remedy negative environmental

trends. An enabled, properly regulated, responsible and profitable private sector is

critical for employment, living wages, growth and revenues for public programmes.

Transforming business models for creating shared value is vital for growing

inclusive and sustainable economies.

74. The world’s richness of natural resources also provides a formidable economic

opportunity, if it is translated not only into GDP growth but into shared prosperity.

Sustainable approaches to landscape management (including agriculture and

forests), industrialization (including manufacturing and productive capacities),

access to energy and water and sanitation are key drivers of sustainable production

and consumption and job creation, as well as sustainable and equitable growth. They

drive sustainable management of natural resources and tackle climate change.

Planet: to protect our ecosystems for all societies and our children

75. To respect our planetary boundaries we need to equitably address climate

change, halt biodiversity loss and address desertification and unsustainable land use.

We must protect wildlife, safeguard forests and mountains and reduce disaster risk

and build resiliencies. We must protect our oceans, seas, rivers and atmosphere as

our global heritage and achieve climate justice. We must promote sustainable

agriculture, fisheries and food systems; foster sustainable management of water

resources and of waste and chemicals; foster renewable and more efficient energy;

decouple economic growth from environmental degradation; advance sustainable

industrialization and resilient infrastructure; ensure sustainable consumption and

production; and achieve sustainable management of marine and terrestrial

ecosystems and land use.

76. Sustainable development is at risk as evidence proves that warming of the

climate system is now undeniable and human activities are its primary cause. We

must limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius if we are to avoid the

worst effects of climate change. Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to human-

induced climate change. Fossil fuels usage and deforestation are its two main

sources. Increasing warming will have severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts

more likely. The longer we wait to take action towards sustainable production and

consumption, the more it will cost to solve the problem and the greater the

technological challenges will be. Adaptation can reduce some risks and impact s of

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climate change. Most urgently, we must adopt a meaningful, universal climate

agreement by the end of 2015.

Justice: to promote safe and peaceful societies and strong institutions

77. Effective governance for sustainable development demands that public

institutions in all countries and at all levels be inclusive, participatory and

accountable to the people. Laws and institutions must protect human rights and

fundamental freedoms. All must be free from fear and violence, without

discrimination. We also know that participatory democracy and free, safe and

peaceful societies are both enablers and outcomes of development.

78. Access to fair justice systems, accountable institutions of democratic

governance, measures to combat corruption and curb illicit financial flows and

safeguards to protect personal security are integral to sustainable development. An

enabling environment under the rule of law must be secured for the free, active and

meaningful engagement of civil society and of advocates, reflecting the voices of

women, minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups, indigenous

peoples, youth, adolescents and older persons. Press freedom and access to

information, freedom of expression, assembly and association are enablers of

sustainable development. The practice of child, early and forced marriage must be

ended everywhere. The rule of law must be strengthened at the national and

international level to secure justice for all.

79. We need to rebuild and reintegrate societies better after crises and conflicts.

We must address State fragility, support internally displaced persons and contribute

to resilience of people and communities. Reconciliation, peacebuilding and State-

building are critical for countries to overcome fragility and develop cohesive

societies and strong institutions. These investments are essential to retaining the

gains of development and avoiding reversals in the future.

Partnership: to catalyse global solidarity for sustainable development

80. A revitalized global partnership for sustainable development must be built on

the foundations agreed upon in the Millennium Declaration, at the international

financing for development process undertaken in Monterrey in 2002 and the

sustainable development process initiated in Johannesburg in 2002. It must be

effective in mobilizing the means and in creating the environment to implement ou r

agenda. Mobilizing the support to implement the ambitious new agenda will require

political will and action on all fronts, domestic and international, public and private,

through aid and trade, regulation, taxation and investment.

81. Implementation is not just about quantity. It is also about doing things

together, uniting around the problem. Inclusive partnerships must be a key feature

of implementation at all levels: global, regional, national and local. We know the

extent to which this can be transformative. The sustainable development goals

provide a platform for aligning private action and public policies. Transformative

partnerships are built upon principles and values, a shared vision and shared goals:

placing people and the planet at the centre. They include the participation of all

relevant stakeholders, in which mutual accountability is critical. This means

principled and responsible public-private-people partnerships.

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D. Integrating the six essential elements

82. Sustainable development must be an integrated agenda for economic,

environmental and social solutions. Its strength lies in the interweaving of its

dimensions. This integration provides the basis for economic models that benefit

people and the environment; for environmental solutions that contribute to progress;

for social approaches that add to economic dynamism and allow for the preservation

and sustainable use of the environmental commons; and for reinforcing human

rights, equality and sustainability. Responding to all goals as a cohesive and

integrated whole will be critical to ensuring the transformations needed at scale.

83. The agenda itself mirrors the broader international human rights framework,

including elements of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, a s well as

the right to development. Specific targets are set for disadvantaged groups.

Indicators will need to be broadly disaggregated across all goals and targets.

84. The essential elements are further integrated by the application of the principle

of universality. In addressing them to all countries and all peoples, we take account

of environmental, economic and social interdependence, while also recognizing the

realities of differentiated national needs and capacities.

85. Finally, the new framework provides a much-needed opportunity to integrate

the broader United Nations agenda, with its inextricably linked and mutually

interdependent peace and security, development and human rights objectives.

86. All of this will have important implications for the way that all partners pursue

sustainable development, requiring transformations in approaches to leadership,

policy coherence, strategy and collaboration. It will also have a beneficial unifying

effect on the organization of work within the United Nations system at the global,

regional and country levels.

IV. Mobilizing the means to implement our agenda

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

Mahatma Gandhi

A. Financing our future

87. Sustainable development is a complex challenge, with urgent requirements,

resulting in enormous financing needs. The means to finance the agreed -upon goals

will not be found in one solution, nor borne by one set of actors. All financing

streams need to be optimized towards sustainable development and coordinated for

the greatest impact. An integrated sustainable development agenda demands an

equally synergistic financial framework. Governments should work to better align

the financing frameworks that developed out of the two major strands of

development debate, the Monterrey and Rio processes. In addition, Governments

should also be mindful of the need for coherence and alignment with climate -change

financing (see figure II).

88. The global conversation on sustainable development finance is progressing.

The Open Working Group has proposed a number of targets on means of

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implementation. The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable

Development Financing has presented policy options organized around different

financing streams: domestic public, domestic private, international public,

international private and blended finance.5 These streams address the public,

private, national and international facets of the financing challenge to raise new and

additional resources, reallocate existing ones and create a supportive enabling

environment. The establishment of new institutions of South-South cooperation,

such as the New Development Bank (BRICS Development Bank) and the Asian

Infrastructure Investment Bank, present new opportunities to finance investments in

sustainable development.

89. I welcome the policy options presented by the Intergovernmental

Committee and encourage countries to scale up ambition and enhance

specificity to meet the demands of the new agenda . To these ends, as Member

States prepare for the third International Conference on Financing for Development

in Addis Ababa, it will fall to them to set an agreed and ambitious course for

sustainable development financing beyond 2015.

Figure II

Flows of funds from international and national financing sources to

sustainable development

Source: A/69/315.

* The size of boxes does not represent financing volumes/importance.

** There can be cases where international public finance also directly supports the

implementation of international objectives.

*** Sovereign wealth funds handle public money, but are managed like private investors.

Domestic enabling environment and policy framework

International enabling environment


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90. All public funds must positively impact the poorest and most vulnerable in all

societies. Official development assistance (ODA) and other international public

funds will continue to play a central and catalytic role, particularly in vulnerable

countries, as will a strategic approach and systematic progress in ut ilization.

Member States should honour their commitments in full and in a timely manner.

ODA must both respond to the unfinished business of the Millennium Development

Goals and address the transition to the new sustainable development agenda. In the

current debate on modernizing ODA, it is necessary to underscore the importance of

more effective and better targeted ODA funding that leverages other resources. This

must include more focus on the least developed countries, landlocked developing

countries, small island developing States and countries in vulnerable situations.

91. Responsibility for raising the domestic public revenues necessary for the core

economic and social functions, for example to ensure a social protection floor and to

remedy exclusion, rests primarily with each national Government. National laws

and policies should dedicate adequate and timely resources to these purposes, while

public institutions should act in the public interest. This includes environmentally

and socially sound policies, the promotion of human rights, strong institutions and

the rule of law. Domestic efforts need to be complemented, however, by a

supportive international environment.

92. Urgent action is needed to mobilize, redirect and unlock the transformative

power of trillions of dollars of private resources to deliver on sustainable development

objectives. Long-term investments, including foreign direct investment, are needed in

critical sectors, especially in developing countries. These include sustainable energy,

infrastructure and transport, as well as information and communications technologies.

The public sector will need to set a clear direction. Review and monitoring

frameworks, regulations and incentive structures that enable such investments must be

retooled to attract investments and reinforce sustainable development. National

oversight mechanisms such as supreme audit institutions and oversight functions by

legislatures should be strengthened.

93. Efforts to increase the effectiveness of development coopera tion need to be

enhanced based on basic principles of country ownership, focus on results, inclusive

partnerships, transparency and accountability.

94. Long-term decarbonization of our economies, access to energy, water and food

and sustainable agriculture, industry, infrastructure and transport will ultimately be

achieved through the same investments at the project level. In addition, it will be

important to consider that many of the investments to achieve the sustainable

development goals will take place at the subnational level and be led by local

authorities.

95. In addition, we must move, seriously and expeditiously, to correct the inequities

that have long plagued the international system to the disadvantage of developing

countries. We need a more equitable multilateral trading system, a conclusion of the

Doha round and better access to technology, medicines and long-term investments for

developing countries. We need a more fair representation of emerging and developing

countries in international financial and economic decision-making, better regulation

and more stability in the international financial and monetary systems and sustainable

debt solutions. We must continue to remedy the policy incoherence between current

modes of international governance in matters of trade, finance and investment on the

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one hand, and our norms and standards for labour, the environment, human rights,

equality and sustainability on the other.

96. As preparations for the third International Conference on Financing for

Development in Addis Ababa in July 2015 get under way, there are high

expectations for concrete outcomes that would finance sustainable development and

set the stage for a successful outcome of the twenty-first session of the Conference

of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in

Paris in December 2015.

97. I urge Member States to consider and agree in particular to the following

recommendations.

98. All developed countries should meet the target of 0.7 per cent of gross

national income (GNI) for ODA to developing countries and agree to concrete

timetables to meet ODA commitments, including the Istanbul commitments to

the least developed countries of 0.15 per cent of GNI by 2015. It is important to

ensure that the proportion of ODA going to the least developed countries does not

decline, but continues to increase, to be better targeted, more efficient and more

transparent and to leverage additional resources. The smooth transition of countries

graduating from least developed country status is vital in order to ensure that these

countries are eased into a sustainable development path without any disruption to

their development plans, programmes and projects. Provision should be made to

increase funding to facilitate capacities to implement tax reforms, thus improving

domestic resource mobilization. All other international commitments also need to be

met.

99. Any effort to modernize ODA and measures of development finance

should be considered in an open and transparent forum with the widest

possible participation of donor and recipient countries and other relevant

stakeholders.

100. Levels of concessionality should take into account different development

stages, circumstances and multiple dimensions of poverty and the particular

type of investment made.

101. All countries are encouraged to adopt their own national sustainable

development financing strategies that take account of all financing flows, based

on continuing dialogue among relevant government entities and other

stakeholders. Such strategies should review and strengthen the domestic policy, the

legal and institutional environment and the policy coherence for sustainable

development. All financing flows, including climate finance, should build stronger

country ownership and lead to greater use of country strategies and systems. In order

to be effective, the component parts of sustainable development financing strategies

must have associated investible pipelines. National visions and plans and annual

budgets and medium-term expenditure frameworks should be aligned with national

sustainable development strategies.

102. Fiscal and macroeconomic policies must include low carbon solutions for

sustainable development and investment in adaptation and resilience. Carbon

pricing, through different approaches, should be a key consideration. Harmful fossil

fuel subsidies, both direct and indirect, should be phased out. Agricultural export

subsidies should be removed.

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103. The regulatory frameworks, incentives and risk-return profiles that

enable private investments and business models, as well as public procurement

policies, must be aligned with the sustainable development goals.

104. All countries should consider adopting policies to encourage responsible

and accountable investment of private financing in sustainable development,

and requiring companies to undertake mandatory economic, environmental ,

social and governance reporting, accompanied with regulatory changes that

ensure that investor incentives are aligned with the sustainable development

goals. Transition periods and technical support would be needed to this effect,

especially for small and medium enterprises.

105. We should work to ensure investment policies that are in line with the

United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the core

labour standards of the International Labour Organization and United Nations

environmental standards. Such policies should also adequately balance investor

preferences with the needs of the people in the countries in which they operate.

106. Policies are needed to stimulate and support entrepreneurship and to

increase access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, including

through the use of development banks and other financial intermediaries.

107. Countries should strive to provide universal access to financial services,

emphasizing inclusive access across income, gender, geography, age and other

groupings. Specific barriers to women’s access to finance should be eliminated.

Countries should expand financial literacy and establish strong consumer

protection agencies.

108. Blended financing platforms could have a great potential, particularly

where there is a benefit to the public sector. Where they are considered, however,

it is important to ensure that these arrangements are subject to safeguards in order to

verify that they contribute to sustainable development. They must not replace or

compromise State responsibilities for delivering on social needs. Such policies also

need to ensure fair returns to the public, while incorporating social, environmental,

labour, human rights, and gender equality considerations. In addition, risk should be

managed through diversification and the use of multiple simultaneous projects,

allowing for gains in some projects to offset losses in others.

109. Member States may wish to call on the international financial institutions

to consider establishing a process to examine the role, scale and functioning of

multilateral and regional development finance institutions to make them more

responsive to the sustainable development agenda.

110. While the additional commitments that have been made for climate finance

should be honoured, the use of these and other financing flows should not lead to

fragmentation but rather to coherence and strengthened cross-linkages within

the pillars of sustainable development. An expert technical group should be

tasked with developing and presenting to Member States a coherent framework

that accounts for climate financing and ODA.

111. South-South cooperation and the significant efforts of solidarity by

emerging economies is encouraging. More countries will need to commit to

increasing their contribution to international public financing and set targets

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and timelines to do so. In turn, South-South technical assistance and the

sharing of experiences through regional forums should be promoted.

112. I also strongly encourage countries to consider using innovative ways to

raise additional resources to fund sustainable development at scale, drawing

from a number of options, including various tax (for example, financial

transaction taxes, carbon tax on airline ticket levies) and non-tax (for example,

emission allowances) mechanisms.

113. We must strengthen international coordination of macroeconomic policies

of major economies and the management of global liquidity and consider more

systematic issuance of special drawing rights for continued assistance and

counter-cyclical macroeconomic management.

114. We must vigorously implement comprehensive and adequate financial

regulations in all countries, as the risk of another global financial crisis has not

been sufficiently reduced. However, the design of regulations needs to take into

account their impact on financial inclusion and incentives for investment in

sustainable development.

115. Effectively addressing illicit flows is urgent. We need more vigorous

implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as well

as measures to overcome impediments to the return of stolen assets. Member

States should consider measures to ensure information exchange, judicial

cooperation and the establishment of an intergovernmental committee on tax

cooperation, under the auspices of the United Nations.

116. Let us also enhance international efforts to strengthen arrangements for

transparent, orderly and participatory sovereign debt restructuring. As an

immediate step, let us bring together relevant authorities and other

stakeholders to develop an informal forum on sovereign debt, while continuing

ongoing discussions.

117. Efforts should be intensified to reduce costs on the transfer of remittances

in a manner fully respecting the rights of migrants. I welcome the commitment

of the countries of the Group of 20 to reduce the global average cost of transferring

remittances to 5 per cent.

B. Technology, science and innovation for a sustainable future

118. We live in a period of unprecedented technological innovation and change.

New technologies are unlocking possibilities for sustainable development. The

solutions that they can generate, and the levels of access that they can enable, will

be crucial to our vision for the world beyond 2015.

119. However, access to vital and environmentally sound technologies is today

unevenly spread, both within and between countries, with the poor and many

developing countries essentially locked out. Large amounts of public resources are

allocated to military budgets, while comparatively less is spent on research and

development for public goods. Public funding often subsidizes private sec tor

research, at times leading to the public being priced out of the benefits through

disadvantageous licensing and patents. This also leads to frequent subsidies for

innovations that are not aligned with promoting sustainable consumption and

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production patterns. Furthermore, we have a long way to go to reach the necessary

level of participation of women and girls in science, technology (including

information and communications technology), engineering and mathematics for the

world of the twenty-first century.

120. A sustainable future will require that we act now to phase out unsustainable

technologies and to invest in innovation and in the development of clean and sound

technologies for sustainable development. We must ensure that they are fairly

priced, broadly disseminated and fairly absorbed, including to and by developing

countries.

121. Developing countries, and the least developed countries in particular, will need

the support that will allow them to benefit from enhanced access to these

technologies and, ultimately, to expand domestic innovation and the development of

their own technological solutions.

122. Historically, significant technological advances have often resulted from multi -

stakeholder, solution-driven initiatives. Achieving our sustainable development goals

will also require solution-driven technology partnerships among a variety of actors.

123. We must establish effective modalities for multi-stakeholder cooperation and

sharing of the costs for the research, development, demonstration, and diffusion of

new technologies: public, private, civil society, philanthropic and other sectors,

inclusive of indigenous knowledge. We must move to prepare concrete initiatives,

including those leveraging technology, ready to launch at the commencement of the

new sustainable development agenda and set bold technological goals and resource

mobilization targets. And we must facilitate access to the benefits of technology for

all, including the poorest, while ensuring that the intellectual property regime

creates the right incentives for the technological innovation needed for sustainable

development. Such urgency is particularly great in the case of low-carbon

technologies, as part of our efforts to mitigate human-induced climate change.

124. There are a number of ongoing international initiatives aimed at accelerating the

development, diffusion and transfer of appropriate, especially environmentally sound,

technologies. Thus far, however, ambition has not matched the challenges at hand.

125. Having taken into account the recommendations of the structured dialogues

of the General Assembly, I propose to establish an online, global platform,

building on and complementing existing initiatives, with the participation of all

relevant stakeholders, in order to: (a) map existing technology facilitation

initiatives, needs and gaps, including in areas vital for sustainable development,

including agriculture, cities and health; (b) enhance international cooperation

and coordination in this field, addressing fragmentation and facilitating

synergies, including within the United Nations system; and (c) promote

networking, information sharing, knowledge transfer and technical assistance, in

order to advance the scaling up of clean technology initiatives.

126. At the same time, I call upon all Member States to: (a) urgently finalize

arrangements for the establishment of the proposed technology bank and science,

technology and innovation supporting mechanism dedicated to the least

developed countries; (b) significantly scale up cooperation for the sharing of

technologies, strengthening knowledge and capacity-building for usage, and

innovation capacities, including information and communications technologies;

(c) make the adjustments necessary in the national and international policy

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frameworks to facilitate these actions; (d) make substantial progress in the

development, transfer and dissemination of such technologies and knowledge to

developing countries on favourable, concessional and preferential terms;

(e) ensure that our global intellectual property regimes and the application of the

flexibilities of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights (TRIPS) are fully consistent with and contribute to the goals of

sustainable development; (f) make specific commitments to shifting public

resources away from harmful technologies and towards the sustainable

development goals; and (g) promote the acceleration of the innovation-to-market-

to-public-good cycle of clean and environmentally sound technologies.

C. Investing in capacities for sustainable development

127. To achieve our goals, countries need to integrate them into national planning,

policy, budgets, law and institutions. They will require integrated institutions that

are effective, and human resources equipped with the skills and capacities to deliver

sustainable development. Governments, in consultation with all stakeholders, and,

consistent with national priorities, will need to review national strategies and

policies to support progress towards the goals.

128. These strategies will also have to be reviewed and implemented at the local

level, with the full engagement of local authorities. In many instances, subnational

and local authorities, including mayors, are already leading the charge for

sustainable development. Institutional and human capacities will, in many cases,

need to be strengthened for effective implementation and monitoring. This includes

bolstering capacities to assess needs, collect data and formulate responses across

sectors and institutions.

129. Executive institutions, parliaments and the judiciary will need the capacity to

perform their functions in this endeavour. In addition, institutions of civil society

must have the capacity to carry out their critical, independent roles.

130. Developing countries will need support for capacity-building. The least

developed countries and post-conflict countries will have particularly urgent needs.

For this, the United Nations is working to revitalize and improve its role in capacity

development.7 Here too, ambition will need to be scaled up, especially in the

immediate term, not only by the United Nations, but by all partners in the process.

131. As we seek to build capacities and to help the new agenda to take root,

volunteerism can be another powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation.

Volunteerism can help to expand and mobilize constituencies and to engage people

in national planning and implementation for sustainable development goals. And

volunteer groups can help to localize the new agenda by providing new areas of

interaction between Governments and people for concrete and scalable actions.

132. Finally, we must also mobilize the power of culture in the transformative

change we seek. Our world is a remarkable mosaic of diverse cultures, informing

our evolving understanding of sustainable development. We still have much to learn

from global cultures as we build the world we want. If we are to succeed, the new

__________________

7 See quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activit ies for development of the

United Nations system (see, most recently, A/67/93-E/2012/79).


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agenda cannot remain the exclusive domain of institutions and Governments. It

must be embraced by people. Culture, in different aspects, will thus be an important

force in supporting the new agenda.

V. Delivering our agenda: a shared responsibility

“Development requires the removal of major sources of unfreedom: poverty as well as

tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social deprivation, neglect

of public facilities as well as intolerance and overactivity of repressive states .”

Amartya Sen

A. Measuring the new dynamics

133. Progress in sustainable development will depend on vibrant economies and

inclusive growth in order to keep pace with growing populations and longer life

expectancies and to generate employment, wages and revenues for social programmes.

But for making our economies inclusive and sustainable, our understanding of

economic performance, and our metrics for gauging it, must be broader, deeper and

more precise.

134. We need to reconsider how to account for sustainable production and

consumption patterns in national accounting. Measures that do not distinguish

between socially and environmentally harmful activities on the one hand, and social

goods on the other, that do not account for equity and the distribution of costs and

benefits and do not consider impacts on future generations will not help us to

navigate to a sustainable future.

135. Member States have recognized the importance of building on existing

initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that go

beyond gross domestic product. Thus, work on developing alternative measures of

progress, beyond GDP, must receive the dedicated attention of the United Nations,

international financial institutions, the scientific community and public institutions.

These metrics must be squarely focused on measuring social progress, human well-

being, justice, security, equality and sustainability. Poverty measures should reflect

the multidimensional nature of poverty. New measures of subjective well -being are

potentially important new tools for policymaking.

136. To realize the sustainable development agenda, we also need measurable

targets and technically rigorous indicators. Here too, Member States have advanced

the process significantly by proposing an array of targets, which bring a strong

integrating effect and go a long way in defining the substance of what we need to

achieve. However, while many remain robust and responsive to the goals, others

better serve the ongoing work of developing indicators for the agenda. A few of the

targets are less ambitious than those already agreed upon, and some would be better

placed where commitments to policy change can be ensured.

137. What is needed now is a technical review to ensure that each goal is framed in

language that is specific, measurable, achievable and consistent with existing United

Nations standards and agreements, while preserving the important political balance

that they represent. To these ends, the technical experts of the United Nations system

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are available to review the targets, including on the means of implementation, and to

compare and align the level of ambition represented by each to that of existing

international targets, commitments, standards and agreements, thus strengthening the

overall framework of the goals. This will also contribute to coherence in the

discussion on financing for development.

138. In addition, where a proposed target is stated in measurable terms, but no

quantitative target has been specified, Member States may wish to seek the input of

the United Nations system, in consultation with its partners in academia and the

scientific community, concerning evidence for attaching specific global target levels.

139. A set of applicable indicators will also need to be identified to allow us to

collect, compare and analyse reliable data, and to do so at the adequate level of

disaggregation, as of 2016. For this purpose, Member States may decide to task the

United Nations system, in consultation with other relevant experts and through a

multi-stakeholder dialogue, to develop a draft set of indicators.

B. Lighting the way: the role of data in the new agenda

140. We seek an evidence-based course for realizing sustainable development, and

we must face the complex challenges this presents and respond to the varying

realities and capabilities in each country.

141. As indicated in the report of my Independent Expert Advisory Group on the

Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, the world must acquire a new “data

literacy” in order to be equipped with the tools, methodologies, capaci ties and

information necessary to shine a light on the challenges of responding to the new

agenda. Enhanced national and international statistical capacities, rigorous indicators,

reliable and timely data sets, new and non-traditional data sources and broader and

systematic disaggregation to reveal inequities will all be fundamental for

implementing it.

142. In all of this, we must maximize our commitment to public transparency,

information sharing, participatory monitoring and open data, while never

compromising on the obligation to protect the right to privacy. And we must

significantly scale up support to countries and national statistical offices with

critical needs for capacities to produce, collect, disaggregate, analyse and share the

data crucial to the new agenda.

143. To these ends, I recommend that, under the auspices of the Statistical

Commission of the United Nations, a comprehensive programme of action on

data be established. This includes the building of a global consensus, applicable

principles and standards for data, a web of data innovation networks to advance

innovation and analysis, a new innovative financing stream to support national

data capacities and a global data partnership to promote leadership and

governance.

144. Specifically, we will carry out, in close cooperation with country experts, an in-

depth analysis of the existing data and information gaps, and thus determine the scale

of the investments needed to establish a modern monitoring system for the

achievement of the sustainable development goals. We will catalyse a

multi-stakeholder global partnership for sustainable development data to mobilize and

coordinate the actions required to make the data revolution serve sustainable

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development, promoting initiatives such as the holding of inclusive world forums on

sustainable development data.

C. Gauging our progress: monitoring, evaluation and reporting

145. If we are to succeed, the new agenda must become part of the contract between

people, including civil society and responsible business and their Governments —

national and local. Parliaments must be strengthened to deepen democracy and carry

out their constitutional mandates of oversight. All companies must pay their taxes,

respect labour standards, human rights and the environment. Empowered civil

society actors, through action and advocacy, must rally to the cause and contribute

to a sustainable, equitable and prosperous future.

146. We must now embrace a culture of shared responsibility, one based on agreed

universal norms, global commitments, shared rules and evidence, collective action

and benchmarking for progress. The new paradigm of accountability that we seek is

not one of conditionality, neither North to South, nor South to North, but rather one

of all actors — Governments, international institutions, private sector actors and

organizations of civil society — and in all countries, the people themselves. This is

the real test of people-centred, planet-sensitive development.

147. Such a model can only be built on national ownership, broad participation and

full transparency. To be effective, it must be aligned with the post-2015 sustainable

development agenda and its new goals. To be efficient, it must be streamlined and

employ existing mechanisms and processes. To be evidence-based, it must be

grounded in the data revolution, and on the indicators and data that emerge therefrom.

To be truly universal, it must apply to all actors — in both the public and the private

sectors, at both the national and international levels. It must include opportunities for

mutual review, and for mutual support at the regional and global levels.

148. In recent months, participants in United Nations consultations have

emphasized the need for a voluntary, State-led, participatory, evidence-based and

multitiered process to monitor progress.

149. Thus, a universal review process constructed on these principles could be

initiated at the national level, which would inform the national, regional and global

level reviews. At all levels, review discussions should be public, participatory,

broadly accessible and based on facts, data, scientific findings and evidence -based

evaluations. The principal components might include:

(a) A country-led, national component for accountability: in the overall

review process, this national segment, as that closest to the people, should be the most

significant. It would be built on existing national and local mechanisms and processes,

with broad, multi-stakeholder participation, including the presentation of national and

local governments, parliaments, civil society, science, academia and business. It

would establish benchmarks, review the national policy framework, chart progress,

learn lessons, consider solutions, follow up and report thereon. To that end, a

Government report, a national stakeholder report, with contributions from national

non-governmental actors, and a report compiling existing information and data from

United Nations agencies and international financial institutions, all based upon

globally harmonized formats, would constitute the main written inputs on individual

country progress;

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(b) A regional component for peer reviewing, tailored to regional and

subregional needs, undertaken by existing mechanisms in a participatory, multi-

stakeholder process, to consider national reports, identify regional trends,

obstacles, commonalities, best practices and lessons learned and to generate

solutions and mutual support and solutions: regional reviews would incorporate

and build on the experiences and successes of mechanisms such as the regional

economic commissions, the Africa Peer Review Mechanism process, the Asia-Pacific

Forum on Sustainable Development, the Economic Commission for Europe

environmental performance reviews and the Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development/Development Assistance Committee peer reviews;

(c) A global component for knowledge-sharing, as a forum for

participatory, multi-stakeholder and, importantly, universal review, starting at

the launch of the new agenda: this would be convened annually under the auspices

of the high-level political forum on sustainable development. It would provide a

periodic occasion for individual countries to voluntarily present national reviews of

progress, to discuss lessons learned in each country’s implementation of the agenda

and the opportunity to review both short-term outputs and long-term outcomes

related to attaining the goals. Member States should consider multi -annual reviews

under the political forum in a five-year cycle;

(d) A thematic component to chart global progress at regular intervals

on the sustainable development framework to help to identify challenges and

bottlenecks and to mobilize action to address them: while such thematic reviews

could be carried out under the auspices of the high-level political forum, they would

rely on relevant coordination and review “platforms”. These could include existing

specialized or functional commissions, councils or committees that convene United

Nations and other multilateral entities, relevant treaty body reviews and outcomes,

as well as Member States, partners from civil society, science, academia and the

private sector that could monitor and advance each respective thematic area.

Existing partnerships could also be linked to such platforms in order to ensure

efficient and effective action and accountability. To support and complement the

process, and to ensure continuous gauging of progress, the United Nations would

provide annual global thematic reports, aggregating available data, toge ther with the

global sustainable development report mandated by Rio+20;

(e) A component to review the global partnership for sustainable

development: the essential element of partnership and its mobilization of the means

necessary for implementation must also be kept under active review. As they

prepare for the third Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa,

Member States should seize the opportunity to consider how existing structures and

processes can help review and strengthen the global partnership for sustainable

development, including the Global Partnership for Effective Development

Cooperation. An important additional role for the review process under this

component will be to address the respective conference tracks targeting the spec ial

conditions and needs of the least developed countries, landlocked developing

countries and small island developing States.

150. The current structure of our intergovernmental bodies can accommodate the

universal review process described above. The establishment of the high-level

political forum, which meets under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council

and the General Assembly, as well as the United Nations Environment Assembly,

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were important institutional innovations emerging from Rio+20. And the reform of

the Council has been another important step forward.

D. Making the United Nations fit for transformation

151. This new, universal sustainable development agenda requires an international

community that is “fit for purpose” to support countries in their implementation of a

new generation of sustainable development goals. All who would be engaged in its

implementation will need to embrace its new parameters and its transformative

elements. The United Nations is no exception, given its role in leading and shaping

the sustainable development agenda to 2030.

152. A United Nations system that is “fit for purpose” to deliver on the post -2015

sustainable development agenda is one that must be relevant, innovative, agile,

inclusive, coordinated and results-oriented. It must be guided by universal human

rights and international norms, integrate the United Nations normative frameworks

with its operational activities and be responsive to the differentiated needs of

countries. It must provide specialized advice when requested, and be equally adept at

ensuring an integrated approach, working across disciplines with relevant skill sets to

better support Member States in addressing complex multisectoral challenges. The

system must forge effective partnerships to leverage the expertise, capacities and

resources of external partners. Such a system requires shared goals, visionary and

committed leadership and a global, highly skilled and adaptable international civil

service. And it must reach the highest standards of accountability, transparency and

impact.

153. In doing so, the United Nations system is committed to working more

collaboratively to leverage the expertise and capacities of all its organizations in

support of sustainable development. At the country level, United Nations country

teams will provide coherent support to national stakeholders to implement their new

post-2015 development strategies, while accelerating implementation of the standard

operating procedures for “delivering as one” in order to achieve greater results for

sustainable development. Emphasis will also be placed on using data and evidence

more effectively and transparently and developing greater analytical capacity for

addressing inequalities, risks and vulnerability. The United Nations system will

continue to pursue the development of more innovative and integrated business

models and the implementation of modern operational practices to gain efficiencies

and enhanced impact.

154. Ongoing efforts will also be deepened to ensure that a high-performing,

mobile and diverse workforce is in place to support the new post -2015 sustainable

development agenda. It must be able to leverage the respective expertise and

specializations of United Nations agencies and to work across disciplines and

functions to better address complex multisectoral challenges. An independent,

highly skilled, engaged international civil service that can meet the ever-changing

needs of the international community is our major comparative advantage. We will

invest in attracting, retaining and deploying high-performing staff across locations,

mandates and business models.

155. Critically, for the United Nations to be more “fit for purpose”, Member States

must also be more coherent in their support, in particular as it relates to governance

and funding of the United Nations system. Sustained development financing for

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longer-term support, which enables pooling of resources and brings together

development and humanitarian financing, will be critical, as will more coherent

United Nations funding mechanisms that unite rather than fragment the

development policy framework.

156. In this context, Member States may wish to reinforce current actions being

taken as well as to take initiatives to ensure that the United Nations sys tem is “fit

for purpose” to support this new transformative agenda and achieve coordination

and coherence among development actors at the country level.

VI. Conclusion: together in a universal compact

“If the right decisions are made and kept we could see the beginnings of a better

future in 2015.”

Malala Yousafzai

157. Today’s world is a troubled world, one in turmoil and turbulence, with no

shortage of painful political upheavals. Societies are under serious strain, stemming

from the erosion of our common values, climate change and growing inequalities, to

migration pressures and borderless pandemics. It is also a time in which the strength

of national and international institutions is being seriously tested. Because of the

nature and the scope of this daunting array of enormous challenges, both inaction

and business-as-usual must be dismissed as options. If the global community does

not exercise national and international leadership in the service of the peoples of the

world, we risk further fragmentation, impunity and strife, endangering both the

planet itself as well as a future of peace, sustainable development and respect for

human rights. Simply put, this generation is charged with the duty of transforming

our societies.

158. The year 2015 is hence the time for global action. In the course of this single

year we have the unequivocal opportunity and responsibility to adopt the sustainable

development goals, to restructure the global financial system in line with our needs

and to respond finally and urgently to the challenge of human-induced climate

change. Never before has the world had to face such a complex agenda in a single

year. And this unique opportunity will not come again in our generation.

159. We must take the first determined steps toward a sustainable future with dignity

for all. Transformation is our aim. We must transform our economies, our environment

and our societies. We must change old mindsets, behaviours and destructive patterns.

We must embrace the integrated essential elements of dignity, people, prosperity,

planet, justice and partnership. We must build cohesive societies, in pursuit of

international peace and stability. And we must prioritize good international solutions

through the prism of the national interest of every Member State.

160. Such a future is possible if we collectively mobilize political will and the

necessary resources to strengthen our nations and the multilateral system. We have

the means and methods to meet these challenges if we decide to employ them and

work together. If the Member States now mobilize the world around action for

sustainable development — nationally and internationally — the United Nations

will have proved its value as the primary universal body, living up to the principles

and purposes of its Charter.

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161. Overall, our work now is a sobering and inspiring challenge. We are on the

threshold of the most important year of development since the founding of the

United Nations itself. We must give meaning to the Organization’s promise “to

reaffirm faith in the dignity and worth of the human person” and to take the world

forward to a sustainable future. With this extraordinary process and the

unprecedented leadership that it has witnessed, we have an historic opportunity and

duty to act, boldly, vigorously and expeditiously, to achieve a life of dignity for all,

leaving no one behind.

Leadersʼ Declaration

G7 Summit

7-8 June 2015

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We, the leaders of the G7, met in Elmau for our annual Summit on 7 and 8 June 2015. Guided by our shared values and principles, we are determined to work closely together to meet the complex international economic and political challenges of our times. We are committed to the values of freedom and democracy, and their universality, to the rule of law and respect for human rights, and to fostering peace and security. Especially in view of the numerous crises in the world, we as G7 nations stand united in our commitment to uphold freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The G7 feels a special responsibility for shaping our planet’s future. 2015 is a milestone year for international cooperation and sustainable development issues. The UN Climate Conference in Paris COP 21 is crucial for the protection of the global climate, the UN summit in New York will set the universal global sustainable development agenda for the years to come and the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa will support the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. We want to provide key impetus for ambitious results. “Think ahead. Act together.” – that is our guiding principle.

We have today agreed on concrete steps with regard to health, the empowerment of women and climate protection, to play our part in addressing the major global challenges and to respond to some of the most pressing issues in the world. Furthermore, in addition to fostering trade as a key engine for growth, putting these concrete steps into action, will help us to achieve our pivotal goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth as well as job creation. We call on others to join us in pursuing this agenda.

Global Economy

State of the Global Economy

The global economic recovery has progressed since we last met. In some major advanced economies growth is strengthening and prospects have improved. The decline of energy prices has supportive effects in most of the G7 economies. However, many of our economies are still operating below their full potential and more work is needed to achieve our aim of strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Overall G7 unemployment is still too high, although it has decreased substantially in recent years. We also continue to see challenges such as prolonged low inflation rates, weak investment and demand, high public and private debt, sustained internal and external imbalances, geopolitical tensions as well as financial market volatility.

We commit to addressing these challenges and to continuing our efforts to achieve growth for all. Stronger and inclusive growth requires that we confront the vulnerabilities in our economies. To ensure that G7 countries operate at the technological frontier in the years ahead, we will foster growth by promoting education and innovation, protecting intellectual property rights, supporting private investment with a business friendly climate especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring an appropriate level of public investment, promoting quality infrastructure investment to address shortfalls through effective resource mobilization in partnership with the private sector and increasing productivity by further implementing ambitious structural reforms.

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We agree to deliver on past reform commitments in these areas which will increase confidence and lift sustainable growth. We will continue to implement our fiscal strategies flexibly to take into account near-term economic conditions, so as to support growth and job creation, while putting debt as a share of GDP on a sustainable path. We concur that monetary policies should maintain price stability and support economic recovery within the mandate of central banks. We reaffirm our existing G7 exchange rate commitments.

A sound economic basis is a cornerstone for a better life for all people. Putting the world on a sustainable growth path in the long run will require in particular the protection of our climate, the promotion of health and the equal participation of all members of society. Therefore, the G7 commits to putting these issues at the centre of our growth agenda.

Women’s Entrepreneurship

Women’s entrepreneurship is a key driver of innovation, growth and jobs. However, across G7 countries and around the world far fewer women than men run their own businesses often due to additional barriers that women face in starting and growing businesses. We agree on common principles to boost women’s entrepreneurship, as set out in the annex, and invite other interested countries to join us in this effort. In particular, we will make girls and women aware of the possibility of becoming entrepreneurs. We will address the specific needs of women entrepreneurs, e.g. by promoting their access to finance, markets, skills, leadership opportunities and networks. We ask the OECD to monitor progress on promoting women’s entrepreneurship. We welcome the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women to be hosted by the Presidency on 16 and 17 September 2015. We also reaffirm our commitment to continue our work to promote gender equality as well as full participation and empowerment for all women and girls. We welcome the “World Assembly for Women: WAW!” to be hosted by Japan, G7 Presidency in 2016.

Financial Market Regulation

A sound international financial system is key to putting growth on a sustainable path. Core reforms have been agreed to tackle the root causes of the global financial crisis, and important progress has been made on building a stronger and more resilient financial system, in particular by strengthening the soundness of the banking sector. However, the job is not yet finished, and following through on regulatory reform continues to be key. Going forward, we have identified the following priorities: full, consistent and prompt implementation of agreed reforms will be essential to ensuring an open and resilient global financial system. We will continue to address the “too-big-to-fail” problem on a global level to protect taxpayers from bearing losses generated by the failure of global systemically important financial institutions. In particular, we remain committed to finalizing the proposed common international standard on total loss absorbing capacity for global systemically important banks by November, following the completion of rigorous and comprehensive impact assessments.

We also remain committed to strengthening the regulation and oversight of the shadow banking sector, appropriate to the systemic risk posed. Timely and comprehensive implementation of the agreed G20 shadow banking roadmap is

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essential. In addition, we will monitor and address any newly evolving systemic risks from market-based finance, while we will work to ensure that it is able to fulfil its role in supporting the real economy. To help reduce systemic risk and increase transparency, we also stress the importance of enhanced cross-border cooperation in financial regulatory areas to enable regulations to be more effective, particularly in the areas of resolution and derivatives markets reform, where swift implementation is required. We encourage jurisdictions to defer to each other, when justified in line with the St Petersburg Declaration. Finally, we will also continue to monitor financial market volatility in order to address any emerging systemic risk that could arise.

Tax

We are committed to achieving a fair and modern international tax system which is essential to fairness and prosperity for all. We therefore reaffirm our commitment to finalize concrete and feasible recommendations for the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan by the end of this year. Going forward, it will be crucial to ensure its effective implementation, and we encourage the G20 and the OECD to establish a targeted monitoring process to that end. We commit to strongly promoting automatic exchange of information on cross-border tax rulings. Moreover, we look forward to the rapid implementation of the new single global standard for automatic exchange of information by the end of 2017 or 2018, including by all financial centres subject to completing necessary legislative procedures. We also urge jurisdictions that have not yet, or not adequately, implemented the international standard for the exchange of information on request to do so expeditiously.

We recognize the importance of beneficial ownership transparency for combatting tax evasion, corruption and other activities generating illicit flows of finance and commit to providing updates on the implementation of our national action plans. We reiterate our commitment to work with developing countries on the international tax agenda and will continue to assist them in building their tax administration capacities.

Moreover, we will strive to improve existing international information networks and cross-border cooperation on tax matters, including through a commitment to establish binding mandatory arbitration in order to ensure that the risk of double taxation does not act as a barrier to cross-border trade and investment. We support work done on binding arbitration as part of the BEPS project and we encourage others to join us in this important endeavour.

Trade

Trade and investment are key drivers of growth, jobs and sustainable development. Fostering global economic growth by reducing barriers to trade remains imperative and we reaffirm our commitment to keep markets open and fight all forms of protectionism, including through standstill and rollback. To that end, we support a further extension of the G20 standstill commitment and call on others to do the same. At the same time, we remain committed to reducing barriers to trade and to improving competitiveness by taking unilateral steps to liberalize our economies. We will protect and promote investment and maintain a level playing field for all investors. International standards for public export finance are key to avoiding or

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reducing distortions in global trade, and we emphasize our support for the international working group on standards for public export finance.

We are committed to strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system, including by contributing to full and swift implementation of the WTO Bali package. The focus in 2015 should in particular be on the entry into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). To that end, G7 members commit to making every effort to complete their domestic ratification procedures in advance of the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC 10) in Nairobi this December. We also call for swift agreement by July of a WTO post-Bali work programme that secures a prompt conclusion and balanced outcome of the Doha Round and we fully support ongoing efforts in the WTO to this end. Both the implementation of the TFA and agreement on a post-Bali work programme should lay the ground for a successful MC 10, the first WTO Ministerial to be held in Africa. We stand ready to continue our support to developing countries to help implement the measures agreed in the TFA. We must build on the success of the 2013 WTO Ministerial, which reinvigorated the negotiating pillar of the WTO, and demonstrated that flexibility is achievable within the consensus framework of the WTO. We look forward to the discussions at the G20 on ways to make the multilateral trading system work better, based on input from the WTO.

While strengthening the multilateral trading system remains a priority, we also welcome ongoing efforts to conclude ambitious and high-standard new bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) and look forward to swift progress in plurilateral negotiations, including the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). We will work to conclude the expansion of the ITA without delay. These agreements are able to support the multilateral system, contribute to stronger global trade and to more growth and jobs and can act as building blocks for future multilateral agreements. To this end, FTAs need to be transparent, high-standard, and comprehensive as well as consistent with and supportive of the WTO framework.

We welcome progress on major ongoing trade negotiations, including on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the EU-Japan FTA/Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), aimed at reaching ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreements. We will make every effort to finalize negotiations on the TPP as soon as possible as well as to reach agreement in principle on the EU-Japan FTA/EPA preferably by the end of the year. We will immediately accelerate work on all TTIP issues, ensuring progress in all the elements of the negotiations, with the goal of finalizing understandings on the outline of an agreement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this year. We welcome the conclusion of the negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU and look forward to its timely entry into force. We will work to ensure that our bilateral and regional FTAs support the global economy.

Responsible Supply Chains

Unsafe and poor working conditions lead to significant social and economic losses and are linked to environmental damage. Given our prominent share in the globalization process, G7 countries have an important role to play in promoting

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labour rights, decent working conditions and environmental protection in global supply chains. We will strive for better application of internationally recognized labour, social and environmental standards, principles and commitments (in particular UN, OECD, ILO and applicable environmental agreements) in global supply chains. We will engage with other countries, for example within the G20, to that end.

We strongly support the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and welcome the efforts to set up substantive National Action Plans. In line with the UN Guiding Principles, we urge private sector implementation of human rights due diligence. We will take action to promote better working conditions by increasing transparency, promoting identification and prevention of risks and strengthening complaint mechanisms. We recognize the joint responsibility of governments and business to foster sustainable supply chains and encourage best practices.

To enhance supply chain transparency and accountability, we encourage enterprises active or headquartered in our countries to implement due diligence procedures regarding their supply chains, e.g. voluntary due diligence plans or guides. We welcome international efforts, including private sector input, to promulgate industry-wide due diligence standards in the textile and ready-made garment sector. To promote safe and sustainable supply chains, we will increase our support to help SMEs develop a common understanding of due diligence and responsible supply chain management.

We welcome initiatives to promote the establishment of appropriate, impartial tools to help consumers and public procurers in our countries compare information on the validity and credibility of social and environmental product labels. One example is the use of relevant apps, which are already available in some countries. Moreover, we will strengthen multi-stakeholder initiatives in our countries and in partner countries, including in the textile and ready-made garment sector, building upon good practices learned from the Rana Plaza aftermath. We will continue supporting relevant global initiatives. Furthermore, we will better coordinate our bilateral development cooperation and support partner countries in taking advantage of responsible global supply chains to foster their sustainable economic development.

We support a “Vision Zero Fund” to be established in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO). The Fund will also add value to existing ILO projects with its aim of preventing and reducing workplace-related deaths and serious injuries by strengthening public frameworks and establishing sustainable business practices. Access to the Fund will be conditional: the Fund will support those recipients that commit themselves to prevention measures and the implementation of labour, social, environmental and safety standards. We agree to follow up on the matter and look forward to the Fund reaching out to the G20.

We also commit to strengthening mechanisms for providing access to remedies including the National Contact Points (NCPs) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In order to do so, the G7 will encourage the OECD to promote peer reviews and peer learning on the functioning and performance of NCPs. We will ensure that our own NCPs are effective and lead by example.

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We welcome the closing of the funding gap in the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund for compensating the victims of the tragic accident in 2013.

Foreign Policy

Acting on Common Values and Principles

We, the G7, emphasise the importance of freedom, peace and territorial integrity, as well as respect for international law and respect for human rights. We strongly support all efforts to uphold the sovereign equality of all States as well as respect for their territorial integrity and political independence. We are concerned by current conflicts which indicate an erosion of respect for international law and of global security.

Based on our common values and principles we are committed to:

Finding a Solution to the Conflict in Ukraine

We reiterate our condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation and reaffirm our policy of its non-recognition.

We reiterate our full support for the efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the framework of the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group. We welcome the OSCE’s key role in finding a peaceful solution. We call on all sides to fully implement the Minsk agreements including the Package of Measures for their implementation signed on 12 February 2015 in Minsk, through the established Trilateral Contact Group and the four working groups. We are concerned by the recent increase in fighting along the line of contact; we renew our call to all sides to fully respect and implement the ceasefire and withdraw heavy weapons. We recall that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty. They can be rolled back when Russia meets these commitments. However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require. We expect Russia to stop trans-border support of separatist forces and to use its considerable influence over the separatists to meet their Minsk commitments in full.

We commend and support the steps the Ukrainian government is taking to implement comprehensive structural reforms and urge the Ukrainian leadership to decisively continue the necessary fundamental transformation in line with IMF and EU commitments. We reaffirm our commitment to working together with the international financial institutions and other partners to provide financial and technical support as Ukraine moves forward with its transformation. We ask the G7 Ambassadors in Kiev to establish a Ukraine support group. Its task will be to advance Ukraine´s economic reform process through coordinated advice and assistance.

Achieving High Levels of Nuclear Safety

Achieving and maintaining high levels of nuclear safety worldwide remains a major priority to us. We welcome the report of the G7 Nuclear Safety and Security Group. We remain committed to bringing the Chernobyl Shelter Project to a successful completion in order to make the Chernobyl site stable and environmentally safe.

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Maintaining a Rules-Based Maritime Order and Achieving Maritime Security

We are committed to maintaining a rules-based order in the maritime domain based on the principles of international law, in particular as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. We are concerned by tensions in the East and South China Seas. We underline the importance of peaceful dispute settlement as well as free and unimpeded lawful use of the world’s oceans. We strongly oppose the use of intimidation, coercion or force, as well as any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo, such as large scale land reclamation. We endorse the Declaration on Maritime Security issued by G7 Foreign Ministers in Lübeck.

Strengthening the System of Multilateral Treaties / Arms Trade Treaty

We emphasise the importance of strengthening the system of multilateral treaties and commitments and in this regard stress the importance of the Arms Trade Treaty, which entered into force on 24 December 2014.

Preventing and Combating Proliferation

We remain committed to the universalisation of all relevant treaties and conventions that contribute to preventing and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in particular the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. We strongly regret that, although agreement was reached on a number of substantive issues, it was not possible to reach consensus on a final document at the Ninth NPT Review Conference. The G7 renew their commitment to the full implementation of the 2010 Action Plan across the three pillars of the Treaty. The NPT remains the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Iran

We welcome the political understanding on key parameters of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached by the E3+3, facilitated by the EU, and Iran on 2 April. We support the continuous efforts by the E3/EU+3 and Iran to achieve a comprehensive solution by 30 June that ensures the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme and ensures that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. We call on Iran to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency on verification of Iran's nuclear activities and to address all outstanding issues, including those relating to possible military dimensions. We urge Iran to respect the human rights of its citizens and to to contribute constructively to regional stability.

North Korea

We strongly condemn North Korea’s continued development of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, as well as its appalling human rights violations, and its abductions of nationals from other countries.

Supporting Diplomatic Solutions

We are deeply concerned by the dramatic political, security and humanitarian situation in fragile countries and regions and the dangers originating from these conflicts for neighbouring countries and beyond. We condemn in the strongest terms all forms of sexual violence in conflict, and are committed to enhancing the role of women in international peace and security. Sustainable solutions need to

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be inclusive in order to reestablish effective governance and achieve sustainable peace and stability.

We support the ongoing UN-led processes to find lasting solutions for peace and stability in Syria, Libya and Yemen. A genuine UN led transition based on the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué is the only way to bring peace and defeat terrorism in Syria.

Libya

In Libya, we are deeply concerned about the growing terrorist threat, arms proliferation, migrant smuggling, humanitarian suffering and the depletion of state assets. Unless a political agreement is reached, the ongoing instability risks prolonging the crisis that is felt most keenly and acutely by the Libyan people themselves. They are already suffering as terrorist groups attempt to expand into ungoverned space and criminal networks exploit the situation by facilitating irregular migration through Libya.

The time for fighting has passed, the moment for bold political decisions has come. We call on Libyans from all sides to seize this opportunity, to put down their weapons and work together to transform the aspirations that gave birth to the revolution into the political foundations of a democratic state. The time for political agreement is now and we commend those Libyans who have supported the dialogue process and displayed leadership by pursuing peace in their own communities.

We welcome the progress made by all the parties to the negotiations led by UNSRSG Bernardino León. Libyan leaders must now grasp the opportunity to conclude these negotiations and to form a Government of National Accord (GNA) accountable to the Libyan people. They, and those who have influence over them, must show the necessary strength and leadership at this critical moment to reach and implement agreement.

Once an agreement is reached, we stand ready to provide significant support to such an inclusive and representative government as it tries to build effective state institutions, including security forces, to restore public services, to expand infrastructure, strengthen, rebuild and diversify the economy and to rid the country of terrorists and criminal networks.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we call upon the parties, with the active support of the International Community, including the Quartet, to work towards a negotiated solution based on two States living in peace and security.

Fighting Trafficking of Migrants/Tackling Causes for Refugee Crises

We are extremely preoccupied about the increasing and unprecedented global flow of refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrants caused by a multitude of conflicts and humanitarian crises, dire economic and ecological situations and repressive regimes. Recent tragedies in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Bengal/Andaman Sea illustrate the urgent need to address effectively this phenomenon, and in particular the crime of trafficking of migrants. We reaffirm our commitment to prevent and combat the trafficking of migrants, and to detect, deter and disrupt human trafficking in and beyond our borders. We call upon all nations to tackle the causes of these crises that have such tragic consequences for so

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many people and to address the unique development needs of middle-income countries hosting refugees and migrants.

Fighting Terrorism and its Financing

The scourge of terrorism has affected countless innocent victims. It denies tolerance, the enjoyment of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom, destroys cultural heritage and uproots millions of people from their homes. In light of the Foreign Terrorist Fighters phenomenon, the fight against terrorism and violent extremism will have to remain the priority for the whole international community. In this context we welcome the continued efforts of the Global Coalition to counter ISIL/Da’esh. We reaffirm our commitment to defeating this terrorist group and combatting the spread of its hateful ideology. We stand united with all countries and regions afflicted by the brutal terrorist acts, including Iraq, Tunisia and Nigeria whose leaders participated in our discussions at Schloss Elmau. It is a task for all nations and societies to confront the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, including the spread of hatred and intolerance, also through the internet, by promoting good governance and respect for human rights. We stress the importance of implementing the necessary measures to detect and prevent acts of terrorism, to prosecute those responsible, and rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders, in accordance with international law, and to prevent the financing of terrorism.

The fight against terrorism and terrorist financing is a major priority for the G7. We will continue to act fast and decisively, and will strengthen our coordinated action. In particular we reaffirm our commitment to effectively implement the established international framework for the freezing of terrorists’ assets, and will facilitate cross-border freezing requests among G7 countries. We will take further actions to ensure greater transparency of all financial flows, including through an appropriate regulation of virtual currencies and other new payment methods. We reaffirm the importance of the ongoing work undertaken by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and commit to contributing actively to this work. We will strive to ensure an effective implementation of FATF standards, including through a robust follow-up process.

Likewise, we are committed to combating wildlife trafficking, which is pushing some of the world’s species to the brink of extinction and in some instances is being used to finance organized crime, insurgencies, and terrorism.

Supporting African Partners

We welcome the strengthening of democratic institutions and the growing economic opportunities across Africa, and note this progress under challenging circumstances across the continent, including progress in establishing stability in Somalia and a largely peaceful democratic transition in Nigeria. We reiterate our continued commitment to support African partners in addressing challenges to security, governance and stability, including in Mali, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and most recently Burundi.

Supporting Afghanistan

We are committed to an enduring partnership with Afghanistan in support of its stability, prosperity and democratic future.

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Supporting the Reconstruction in Nepal

We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction caused by the devastating earthquakes in Nepal and are offering the people and the government of Nepal our ongoing support. We will continue to provide emergency assistance as needed and are ready to consider requests for bi- and multilateral financial and technical support as well as reconstruction assistance in alignment with the priorities of the Nepalese government. We strive to contribute to the restoration of

lost and damaged cultural treasures.

Health

The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being. We are therefore strongly committed to continuing our engagement in this field with a specific focus on strengthening health systems through bilateral programmes and multilateral structures.

Ebola

We commit to preventing future outbreaks from becoming epidemics by assisting countries to implement the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR), including through Global Health Security Agenda and its common targets and other multilateral initiatives. In order to achieve this we will offer to assist at least 60 countries, including the countries of West Africa, over the next five years, building on countries’ expertise and existing partnerships. We encourage other development partners and countries to join this collective effort. In this framework, we will also be mindful of the healthcare needs of migrants and refugees.

The Ebola crisis has shown that the world needs to improve its capacity to prevent, protect against, detect, report and respond to public health emergencies. We are strongly committed to getting the Ebola cases down to zero. We also recognize the importance of supporting recovery for those countries most affected by the outbreak. We must draw lessons from this crisis. We acknowledge the work that is being done by the WHO and welcome the outcome agreed at the Special Session of the Executive Board on Ebola and the 68th World Health Assembly. We support the ongoing process to reform and strengthen the WHO’s capacity to prepare for and respond to complex health crises while reaffirming the central role of the WHO for international health security.

We welcome the initiative proposed by Germany, Ghana and Norway to the UN Secretary-General to draw up a comprehensive proposal for effective crisis management in the area of health and look forward to the report to be produced by the end of the year by the high-level panel established by the UN Secretary General. The Ebola outbreak has shown that the timely mobilization and disbursement of appropriate response capacities, both funding and human resources, is crucial. We welcome the ongoing development of mechanisms including by the WHO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and call on all partners to strongly coordinate their work. We support the initiative taken by the World Bank to develop a Pandemic Emergency Facility. We encourage the G20 to advance this agenda. Simultaneously, we will coordinate to fight future epidemics and will set up or strengthen mechanisms for rapid deployment of multidisciplinary teams of experts coordinated through a common platform. We will

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implement those mechanisms in close cooperation with the WHO and national authorities of affected countries.

Antimicrobial Resistances

Antimicrobials play a crucial role for the current and future success of human and veterinary medicine. We fully support the recently adopted WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. We will develop or review and effectively implement our national action plans and support other countries as they develop their own national action plans.

We are strongly committed to the One Health approach, encompassing all areas – human, and animal health as well as agriculture and the environment. We will foster the prudent use of antibiotics and will engage in stimulating basic research, research on epidemiology, infection prevention and control, and the development of new antibiotics, alternative therapies, vaccines and rapid point-of-care diagnostics. We commit to taking into account the annex (Joint Efforts to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance) as we develop or review and share our national action plans.

Neglected Tropical Diseases

We commit ourselves to the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). We are convinced that research plays a vital role in the development and implementation of new means of tackling NTDs. We will work collaboratively with key partners, including the WHO Global Observatory on Health Research and Development. In this regard we will contribute to coordinating research and development (R&D) efforts and make our data available. We will build on efforts to map current R&D activities, which will help facilitate improved coordination in R&D and contribute to better addressing the issue of NTDs. We commit to supporting NTD-related research, focusing notably on areas of most urgent need. We acknowledge the role of the G7-Academies of Science in identifying such areas. In particular, we will stimulate both basic research on prevention, control and treatment and research focused on faster and targeted development of easily usable and affordable drugs, vaccines and point-of-care technologies.

As part of our health system strengthening efforts we will continue to advocate accessible, affordable, quality and essential health services for all. We support community based response mechanisms to distribute therapies and otherwise prevent, control and ultimately eliminate these diseases. We will invest in the prevention and control of NTDs in order to achieve 2020 elimination goals.

We are committed to ending preventable child deaths and improving maternal health worldwide, supporting the renewal of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and welcoming the establishment of the Global Financing Facility in support of “Every Woman, Every Child” and therefore welcome the success of the replenishment conference in Berlin for Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance, which has mobilized more than USD 7.5 billion to vaccinate an additional 300 million children by 2020. We fully support the ongoing work of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and look forward to its successful replenishment in 2016 with the support of an enlarged group of donors.

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Climate Change, Energy, and Environment

Climate Change

Urgent and concrete action is needed to address climate change, as set out in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report. We affirm our strong determination to adopt at the Climate Change Conference in December in Paris this year (COP21) a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) applicable to all parties that is ambitious, robust, inclusive and reflects evolving national circumstances.

The agreement should enhance transparency and accountability including through binding rules at its core to track progress towards achieving targets, which should promote increased ambition over time. This should enable all countries to follow a low-carbon and resilient development pathway in line with the global goal to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C.

Mindful of this goal and considering the latest IPCC results, we emphasize that deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required with a decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century. Accordingly, as a common vision for a global goal of greenhouse gas emissions reductions we support sharing with all parties to the UNFCCC the upper end of the latest IPCC

recommendation of 40 to 70 % reductions by 2050 compared to 2010 recognizing that this challenge can only be met by a global response. We commit to doing our part to achieve a low-carbon global economy in the long-term including developing and deploying innovative technologies striving for a transformation of the energy sectors by 2050 and invite all countries to join us in this endeavor. To this end we also commit to develop long term national low-carbon strategies.

The G7 welcomes the announcement or proposal of post-2020 emission targets by all its members, as well as the submission of intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) and calls upon all countries to do so well in advance of COP21. We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Copenhagen Accord to mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion a year by 2020 from a wide variety of sources, both public and private in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation.

Climate finance is already flowing at higher levels. We will continue our efforts to provide and mobilize increased finance, from public and private sources, and to demonstrate that we and others are well on our way to meet the USD 100 bn goal and that we stand ready to engage proactively in the negotiations of the finance provisions of the Paris outcome. We recognize the potential of multilateral development banks (MDBs) in delivering climate finance and helping countries transition to low carbon economies. We call on MDBs to use to the fullest extent possible their balance sheets and their capacity to mobilize other partners in support of country-led programs to meet this goal. We thank the presidency for the publication of the Background Report on Long-Term Climate Finance and call for a further exchange in all relevant fora in view of COP 21.

Mobilization of private sector capital is also crucial for achieving this commitment and unlocking the required investments in low-carbon technologies as well as in

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building resilience against the effects of climate change. To overcome existing investment barriers finance models with high mobilization effects are needed.

To this end, we will:

a) Intensify our support particularly for vulnerable countries’ own efforts to manage climate change related disaster risk and to build resilience. We will aim to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who have access to direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate change related hazards by 2020 and support the development of early warning systems in the most vulnerable countries. To do so we will learn from and build on already existing risk insurance facilities such as the African Risk Capacity, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility and other efforts to develop insurance solutions and markets in vulnerable regions, including in small islands developing states, Africa, Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean as set out in the annex.

b) Accelerate access to renewable energy in Africa and developing countries in other regions with a view to reducing energy poverty and mobilizing substantial financial resources from private investors, development finance institutions and multilateral development banks by 2020 building on existing work and initiatives, including by the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance as set out in the annex.

We also reaffirm our ambition to make the Green Climate Fund fully operational in 2015 and a key institution of the future climate finance architecture.

We remain committed to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and encourage all countries to follow and we remain committed to continued progress in the OECD discussions on how export credits can contribute to our common goal to address climate change.

We pledge to incorporate climate mitigation and resilience considerations into our development assistance and investment decisions. We will continue our efforts to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and call on all Parties to the Montreal Protocol to negotiate an amendment this year to phase down HFCs and on donors to assist developing countries in its implementation.

In order to incentivize investments towards low-carbon growth opportunities we commit to the long-term objective of applying effective policies and actions throughout the global economy, including carbon market-based and regulatory instruments and call on other countries to join us. We are committed to establishing a platform for a strategic dialogue on these issues based on voluntary participation and in cooperation with relevant partners, including the World Bank.

Energy

We reaffirm our commitment to the energy security principles and specific actions decided in Brussels in 2014, welcome the progress achieved since then under the Rome G7 Energy Initiative and will continue their implementation. Moreover, we welcome the G7 Hamburg Initiative for Sustainable Energy Security, in particular

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the additional concrete joint actions to further strengthen sustainable energy security in the G7 countries and beyond.

Notably, we reaffirm our support for Ukraine and other vulnerable countries in their ongoing efforts to reform and liberalize their energy systems and reiterate that energy should not be used as a means of political coercion or as a threat to security. We welcome the intention of the Ukrainian government to reduce energy-related subsidies and invest in energy efficiency programmes.

In addition, we intend to continue our work on assessments of energy system vulnerabilities. Moreover, we will work on strengthening the resilience and flexibility of gas markets, covering both pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas. We regard diversification as a core element of energy security and aim to further diversify the energy mix, energy fuels, sources and routes. We will strengthen cooperation in the field of energy efficiency and launch a new cooperative effort on enhancing cybersecurity of the energy sector. And we will work together and with other interested countries to raise the overall coordination and transparency of clean energy research, development and demonstration, highlighting the importance of renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies. We ask our Energy Ministers to take forward these initiatives and report back to us in 2016.

Resource Efficiency

The protection and efficient use of natural resources is vital for sustainable development. We strive to improve resource efficiency, which we consider crucial for the competitiveness of industries, for economic growth and employment, and for the protection of the environment, climate and planet. Building on the “Kobe 3R Action Plan”, and on other existing initiatives, we will continue to take ambitious action to improve resource efficiency as part of broader strategies to promote sustainable materials management and material-cycle societies. We are establishing the G7-Alliance on Resource Efficiency as a forum to share knowledge and create information networks on a voluntary basis. As set out in the annex, the Alliance will collaborate with businesses, SMEs, and other relevant stakeholders to advance opportunities offered by resource efficiency, promote best practices, and foster innovation. We acknowledge the benefits of collaborating with developing countries on resource-efficiency, including through innovative public private partnerships. We ask the UNEP International Resource Panel to prepare a synthesis report highlighting the most promising potentials and solutions for resource efficiency. We further invite the OECD to develop policy guidance supplementing the synthesis report.

Protection of the Marine Environment

We acknowledge that marine litter, in particular plastic litter, poses a global challenge, directly affecting marine and coastal life and ecosystems and potentially also human health. Accordingly, increased effectiveness and intensity of work is required to combat marine litter striving to initiate a global movement. The G7 commits to priority actions and solutions to combat marine litter as set out in the annex, stressing the need to address land- and sea-based sources, removal actions, as well as education, research and outreach.

We, the G7, take note of the growing interest in deep sea mining beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and the opportunities it presents. We call on the

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International Seabed Authority to continue, with early involvement of all relevant stakeholders, its work on a clear, effective and transparent code for sustainable deep sea mining, taking into account the interests of developing states. Key priorities include setting up regulatory certainty and predictability for investors and enhancing the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep sea mining. We are committed to taking a precautionary approach in deep sea mining activities, and to conducting environmental impact assessments and scientific research.

Development

Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development

2015 is a milestone year for international sustainable development issues. The Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, the UN Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015 agenda in New York and the Climate Change Conference in Paris will set the global sustainable development and climate agenda for the coming years.

We are committed to achieving an ambitious, people-centred, planet-sensitive and universally applicable Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development that integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development – environmental, economic and social – in a balanced manner.

The agenda should complete the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals, end extreme poverty, leave no-one behind, reduce inequality, accelerate the global transition to sustainable economies, promote sustainable management of natural resources, and strengthen peace, good governance and human rights. In order to mobilize appropriate action in and by all countries and by all stakeholders, we support the formulation and communication of key policy messages. We are committed to building a new global partnership based on universality, shared responsibility, mutual accountability, efficient and effective monitoring and review and a multi-stakeholder approach to our common goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and transitioning to sustainable development.

To help foster this new transformative agenda, we have committed to significant measures on global health, food security, climate and marine protection, sustainable supply chains and women’s economic empowerment.

Collectively, we commit to supporting furthering financial and non-financial means of implementation, including through domestic resource mobilization, innovative financing, private finance, official development and other assistance and an ambitious policy framework.

We reaffirm the essential role that official development assistance (ODA) and other international public finance play as a catalyst for, and complement to, other sources of financing for development. We reaffirm our respective ODA commitments, such as the 0.7% ODA/GNI target as well as our commitment to reverse the declining trend of ODA to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and to better target ODA towards countries where the needs are greatest. We also commit to encouraging private capital flows.

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Food Security

Good governance, economic growth and better functioning markets, and investment in research and technology, together with increased domestic and private sector investment and development assistance have collectively contributed to increases in food security and improved nutrition.

As part of a broad effort involving our partner countries, and international actors, and as a significant contribution to the Post 2015 Development Agenda, we aim to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The G7 Broad Food Security and Nutrition Development Approach, as set out in the annex, will make substantial contributions to these goals. We will strengthen efforts to support dynamic rural transformations, promote responsible investment and sustainable agriculture and foster multisectoral approaches to nutrition, and we aim to safeguard food security and nutrition in conflicts and crisis. We will continue to align with partner countries strategies, improve development effectiveness and strengthen the transparent monitoring of our progress. We will ensure our actions continue to empower women, smallholders and family farmers as well as advancing and supporting sustainable agriculture and food value chains. We welcome the 2015 Expo in Milan (“Feeding the Planet - Energy for Life”) and its impact on sustainable agriculture and the eradication of global hunger and malnutrition.

Women’s Economic Empowerment

Women’s economic participation reduces poverty and inequality, promotes growth and benefits all. Yet women regularly face discrimination which impedes economic potential, jeopardizes investment in development, and constitutes a violation of their human rights. We will support our partners in developing countries and within our own countries to overcome discrimination, sexual harassment, violence against women and girls and other cultural, social, economic and legal barriers to women’s economic participation.

We recognise that being equipped with relevant skills for decent work, especially through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) via formal and non-formal learning, is key to the economic empowerment of women and girls, including those who face multiple sources of discrimination (e.g. women and girls with disabilities), and to improving their employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. We commit to increasing the number of women and girls technically and vocationally educated and trained in developing countries through G7 measures by one third (compared to “business as usual”) by 2030. We will also work to increase career training and education for women and girls within G7 countries.

We will continue to take steps to foster access to quality jobs for women and to reduce the gender gap in workforce participation within our own countries by 25% by 2025, taking into account national circumstances including by improving the framework conditions to enable women and men to balance family life and employment, including access to parental leave and childcare. The private sector also has a vital role in creating an environment in which women can more meaningfully participate in the economy. We therefore support the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and call on companies worldwide to integrate them into

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their activities. We will coordinate our efforts through a new G7 working group on women.

CONNEX

We reaffirm our commitment to the initiative on Strengthening Assistance for Complex Contract Negotiations (CONNEX), aimed at providing multi-disciplinary expertise in developing countries for negotiating complex investment agreements, focusing initially on the extractives sector. We emphasize the three pillars of: information integration and accessibility; independence and quality of advice; and capacity building among stakeholders. We endorse the Code of Conduct for multi-disciplinary advisory services and encourage support providers and other relevant stakeholders to incorporate the Code as a set of binding principles into their contracts worldwide. We encourage pilot projects to be undertaken under the banner of the CONNEX initiative in collaboration with support providers, such as the African Legal Support Facility. We welcome further coordination on mechanisms for knowledge sharing and peer learning on the subject of negotiation support.

Deauville Partnership

We reconfirm our strong commitment to the people of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA). Given the current challenges in the region, we renew our commitment to the Deauville Partnership with Arab countries in transition. We support their efforts to improve governance and the rule of law and welcome the recent agreement on the Deauville Compact on Economic Governance and the Action Plan for Financial Inclusion. We further support their efforts to strengthen democracy and human rights and implement economic and social reform to achieve inclusive growth especially for women and youth, including by fostering responsible financial inclusion and facilitating the flow of remittances. The G7 remains committed to working with governments and global financial centres to follow up on asset recovery efforts. We are convinced that, along with the Deauville partner countries, we can contribute to economic, social and political progress in the Arab countries in transition. The Transition Fund remains an important instrument for supporting country-led reform. We endorse measures to further enhance the Fund´s effectiveness, future viability, and impact. We are committed to delivering on pledges made to date and welcome additional contributions to ensure the capitalization goal is met.

G7 Accountability

We remain committed to holding ourselves accountable for the promises we have made in an open and transparent way. We welcome the Elmau Progress Report 2015 which demonstrates the progress we have made so far on our biodiversity commitment and shows how this progress contributes to other G7 development commitments. The report also stresses the need for continued action in this regard. We look forward to the next comprehensive progress report in 2016.

Conclusion

We look forward to meeting under the Presidency of Japan in 2016.

Aaron L Meileiac

Denisa Gokovi

www.omasdir.org

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