Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Distinguished panelists,
Dear friends,
Dear colleagues,
It is a great honor for me on behalf of the United Nations to join you here in Expo 2025 Osaka.
With the overarching theme ¡°Designing Future Society for our lives¡±, I sincerely thank the Government of Japan, the organizers, and the Japanese people for your strong and enduring commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. Your leadership, innovation, and whole-of-society approach have made Japan a true champion of the 2030 Agenda.
With just five years until the 2030 deadline, we have to acknowledge the picture before us is sobering. The UN SDG report 2025 edition reveals that only 35 per cent of the SDG targets are on track or making moderate progress. Nearly half of the targets are moving too slowly and very alarmingly only 18 per cent of the targets are in reverse.
Our progress has been derailed by a convergence of crises ¡ªfrom the world-wide climate shocks and conflicts to economic volatility, and deepening inequalities.
Actually, this moment demands urgency, but it also inspires hope. Here in Japan and around the world, we see cities, businesses, and communities generating innovative solutions, and making real progress towards the SDGs.
As the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ant¨®nio Guterres stated at this Expo in August, ¡°The moral of the United Nations¡¯ story is very simple: humanity is strongest when we stand as one.¡± This spirit of unity is our greatest asset as we accelerate progress and chart the way beyond 2030.
How to shape the future? The Pact for the Future, adopted in September last year, marked a very turning point for multilateral cooperation. It offers a shared vision and roadmap for a world where solidarity, sustainability, and opportunity are universal, and where cooperation and innovation drive the transformations needed for a better future.
This vision is the driving force behind this Expo¡¯s ¡°SDGs + Beyond¡± initiative.
Japan has provided a powerful blueprint for turning global goals into local realities. The Prime Minister-led SDGs Promotion Headquarters and the ¡®SDGs Future Cities¡ªengaging over 200 municipalities ¡ª demonstrate how local action can shape the national agenda and accelerate SDG implementation.
Similarly, the engagement of Japan¡¯s private sector, the integration of SDG learning in schools nationwide, and the passion and enthusiasm of young people, the so-called ¡°generation raised with the SDGs¡±, showed how deeply these Goals have been embedded in the society.
We all know that achieving the SDGs and designing a better future is a collective effort. We need to leverage the ideas, energy, and partnerships of cities and communities, businesses and investors, academia, and civil society and most importantly the youth.
The Expo¡¯s ¡°Agenda 2025¡± dialogues are a testament to this collaborative power, bringing global stakeholders together to deliver solutions, and envision a more sustainable, inclusive future.
Dear friends,
The United Nations is committed to supporting you on this long journey.
The United Nations intergovernmental processes offer vital platforms for advancing the SDGs, including the High-Level Political Forum and various thematic conferences that review progress and highlight best practices.
In November, the Second World Summit for Social Development will be held in Doha, Qatar, bringing together global leaders to address social development issues. It aims to recommit to the goals of the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration, focusing on persistent challenges like poverty and inequality, while accelerating progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
I also would like to highlight the next SDG Summit to be held in 2027 will be a pivotal moment to renew commitments, recalibrate the efforts, and raise ambition on the road to 2030.
In parallel, the Secretary-General has appointed a new Independent Group of Scientists to prepare the 2027 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR). We are very fortunate to have Professor Kanie with us who served on the previous Independent Group that authored the 2023 GSDR, bringing invaluable insight on connecting the scientific evidence to accelerate implementation.
Dear guests,
Dear friends,
The path forward is clear and we shared a very similar vision and purpose. We also possess the knowledge, technology, and partnerships to succeed. What we need now is bold, inclusive action to ensure no one is left behind.
The UN80 initiative reminds us that the 80th anniversary of the United Nations must not only be a moment of reflection, but also a catalyst for reform and renewal.
As the Expo 2025 concludes, let us ensure that its legacy extend far beyond Osaka ¡ª inspiring action in the final push to the 2030 agenda and beyond 2030, and build a future of peace, dignity, responsibility and opportunity for all.
I wish you a very fruitful discussion.
Thank you!