Abu Dhabi: The UAE has pledged to “leave no one behind” and to shift the world on to a sustainable and resilient path.
The pledge came during a speech delivered by Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation, on Saturday during her participation alongside an official delegation in the Sustainable Development Goals 2015 Summit.
This commitment falls within the UAE’s efforts to implement the Millennium Development Goals and achieve the targets underlined in the 2030 development plan launched by the United Nations General Assembly.
The summit was held over three days, between September 25-27, at the UN headquarters in New York. The UAE’s participation at the summit meetings came on the sidelines of the 70th Regular Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which closes on October 6.
Shaikha Lubna said the UAE is striving to achieve the targets laid out in the Sustainable Development Plan 2030, in which access to clean energy, the provision of food, education, and health care, sustainable economic growth, and protection of the environment are seen as priority issues by the leadership.
The set of sustainable development goals reflect a new global consensus on what the world should look like in the next 15 years: a world without poverty, where citizens enjoy the right to education and health, and a safe world where communities enjoy well-being and economic prosperity in a sustainable clean environment.
Shaikha Lubna highlighted success stories in sustainable development achieved by the UAE, most notably setting targets to increase aspects of the use of clean energy through the deployment of safe solar and nuclear energy applications; the diversification of the state’s economy through innovation, research, and development; and investment in human capital.
“UAE aid has provided support for a number of key areas in the development plan for 2030, including infrastructure development, the supply of aid to provide health care and renewable energy, and humanitarian assistance during emergency times and crises.”
Shaikha Lubna said that achieving the sustainable development goals requires the provision of a huge amount of resources, whereby the international community will need to look beyond the traditional means for resource mobilisation, which the UAE believes is an essential factor to achieve the development plan of 2030.
The 193 member states of the United Nations approved last August an ambitious plan titled ‘Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, a road map aimed at ending poverty in the world and building a decent life for all without exclusion over the next 15 years.
The plan includes 17 goals for sustainable development, detailed in 169 items, most notably “the eradication of all forms of poverty in the whole world”, while the remaining goals range between securing advances health care and education, reducing disparities, and achieving gender equality.
The plan also includes a pledge by member states to take urgent measures to combat climate change, in particular through reaching an agreement during the climate conference scheduled to be held in Paris at the end of November.
