Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, conferred in Tehran on Tuesday on ways to promote the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches special importance to the issues relating to the environment and sustainable development,” Araqchi was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying during the meeting.
He expressed hope that meaningful contribution from the international community as envisaged in the so-called 2030 Agenda would lead to the realization of the SDGs.
Araqchi referred to the responsibility of developed countries to supply funding, technology and other requirements to ensure the effective implementation of the project worldwide.
“Developed countries are to provide the resources required for the implementation of the sustainable development plan, including by financing and technology transfer to enable other countries to take the anticipated measures.”
Elaborating on the UN measures vis-à-vis the SDGs, Sachs said addressing environmental problems and climate change concerns features prominently on the world body’s agenda.
The world-renowned American development economist praised Iran’s “active role” in negotiations leading to the 2030 Agenda.
He noted that in view of the especially severe consequences of environmental harm and climate change on West Asian countries, the UN is willing to cooperate with them, particularly Iran, to tackle the challenges.
“Iran can potentially serve as a regional hub on environmental and sustainable development issues,” the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York said.
In September 2015, all 193 member states of the United Nations adopted a plan for achieving a better future for all, laying out a path over the next 15 years to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect the planet.
In other words, the 2030 Agenda is the new global framework to help eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030.
It includes an ambitious set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
