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Distinguished participants,
Friends from the business community,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to address all of you at this year¡¯s SDG Business Forum, on the margins of the 75^th session of the United Nations General Assembly. I thank the International Chamber of Commerce and the United Nations Global Compact, for another year of seamless collaboration with my department, UN DESA.

In 2020, we embarked on the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. However, over the course of just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has quickly turned from a public health emergency into one of the worst international crises of our lifetimes. It has impeded, and in many cases reversed, global development progress.  As a result, over 60 million people may be pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020, the first rise in global poverty since 1998.

The social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are sobering.

• In 2020, world trade could drop 20 per cent, and the global GDP is expected to contract by up to 5 per cent.

• The 2021 GDP is expected to be approximately 6.5 percentage points lower than pre-COVID-19 projections. This is the largest contraction in economic activity since the Great Depression, and far worse than the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

• Underemployment and unemployment have significantly affected the income of approximately 1.6 billion already vulnerable workers in the informal economy, almost half of the global workforce.

• 10 million children face acute malnutrition, and acute hunger could double.
• School closures have kept 90 per cent of students worldwide out of school, causing over 370 million children to miss out on school meals they depend on. And to the families without access to computers and the internet at home, remote learning is completely out of reach.

• Domestic violence against women and children has seen a surge since the beginning of the pandemic.

• We are also expected to see hundreds of thousands of additional deaths for children under five, and tens of thousands of additional maternal deaths in 2020.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Not only has the pandemic demonstrated how the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development are intrinsically linked. It has also revealed the dire consequences that inequalities and injustices have on our societies.

Five years ago, all countries rallied around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our collective roadmap to a better world. It is important that we not lose sight of this vision today, and the urgent call for action, as laid out in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Governments cannot do it alone. Our shared future depends on the participation of all stakeholders. Only together can we respond to COVID-19 in a way that puts us back on track for realizing the SDGs.

On the path to recovery, we need to accelerate efforts to eradicate basic deprivations and support those at immediate risk of poverty, hunger or disease. We need measures that address the root causes of deprivations, including by eliminating social or legal barriers for marginalized and disadvantaged groups.

Indeed, a number of important measures will be needed in the recovery process, including:

1. Accelerating the provision of quality healthcare, education and basic income security.
2. Ensuring access to water, sanitation and clean energy, and that the internet is a key part of the recovery.

• Reversing course on the degradation of nature. While greenhouse gas emissions have dropped and air quality improved in many parts of the world as a result of lock-down measures, we need systemic shifts to make these last.

• We also need to support transitions to low-carbon infrastructure and green jobs, and expand renewables and energy efficient measure, and

• To transform production to be more resilient, including through improved investments.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ultimately, no business can succeed in a failing world. We are all in this together. It is in the long-term interest of business to be part of the driving forces for a more sustainable, inclusive, equal and resilient future.

I am deeply encouraged by the initiatives that are being launched this week. I hope that through the platform of the SDG Business Forum, a new generation of leaders will rise and continue to guide us forward in the Decade of Action. 

I wish you a very successful Forum!

I thank you.