John Podesta outlines priorities for a post-2015 development framework
Sustainability goals should be built into the post-2015 development framework, the US representative on the UN high-level panel (HLP) has said.
Speaking at a UN Foundation briefing on Friday, John Podesta called on the post-2015 framework to “pursue a number of sustainability goals and targets that are universal in their nature,” including meeting current targets to abolish fossil fuel subsidies and cutting food waste. He emphasized the need for sustainable practices to underscore a broad and inclusive vision of development.
“We need to understand that ending extreme poverty and promoting sustainability are not at odds with each other but are indeed mutually reinforcing and beneficial,” he said.
A coherent framework
His remarks come after the HLP released a communiqué from its meeting in Bali in March, reaffirming the need for a single and unified development framework to replace the MDGs in 2015. Panel members said that current processes of consultation and discussion, including the Open Working Group (OWG), should work toward a coherent set of priorities that incorporates sustainability with social inclusion and economic growth.
The OWG, established out of the Rio+20 conference last year, held preliminary discussions in March on proposing a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) to run parallel to the HLP’s work.
However, while a new agenda should identify measurable ways to tackle poverty and spur development, Podesta also identified partnerships and national political will as essential components.
“Today we recognize that private capital, domestic resource mobilization, philanthropy, public-private partnership and technology innovation and transfer are equally important parts of the equation,” he said. “Individual goals have to be embedded in coherent national strategies to connect [people] to economic opportunities, to jobs, to justice, to reproductive health care, and to broader society.”
The HLP is set to submit its final report to the UN Secretary General at the end of May.
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