G20 summit: Countries agree to speed up progress towards SDGs

Countries at the just concluded G20 summit, which took place in New Delhi, India, have agreed to speed up progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This resolution was contained in the “G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration” issued on Saturday, with the organisation agreeing that the world was off-track on its SDG goals. Adding to that, only 12 percent of the global target has been achieved so far.

It said, “During this Decade of Action, we will leverage the G20’s convening power and its collective resolve to fully and effectively implement the 2030 Agenda and accelerate progress towards the SDGs in a timely manner to shape the world we want to see for our future generations.”

Members agree that a more decisive collective action plan would be drafted, with implementation to kick off in earnest to help achieve the SDGs.

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It noted, “To accelerate progress on the SDGs, we commit to taking collective action for effective and timely implementation of the G20 2023 Action Plan to Accelerate Progress on the SDGs, including its High-Level Principles. We will ensure that no one is left behind.”

Meanwhile, the group says that it sees digital transformation, AI, and data advances as powerful tools to help drive the implementation of the 2030 agenda of the SDGs.

It called on developed countries to assist in addressing the financing needs of developing countries like Nigeria and others.

It said, “Developed countries must fully deliver on their respective ODA commitments that complement and encourage development financing from all other sources, including public and private, domestic and international, in a timely manner and contribute to addressing the financing needs of developing countries.”

It also highlighted the important role of tourism and culture in helping in the progress of achieving sustainable socioeconomic development and economic prosperity, and it took note of the Goa Roadmap for Tourism as one of the vehicles for achieving the SDGs.

The group added that it “welcomes ongoing efforts at the UN, including the Secretary General’s efforts to address the SDG financing gap through an SDG stimulus, and will provide full support to the United Nations 2023 SDG Summit, the United Nations Summit of the Future, and other relevant processes.

“We reiterate our commitment to take action to scale up sustainable finance. In line with the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap, we welcome the analytical framework for SDG-aligned finance and voluntary recommendations for scaling up adoption of social impact investment instruments and improving nature-related data and reporting, informed by the stocktaking analyses, considering country circumstances.”