Mr. Wu Hongbo Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Secretary-General for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development
Third Drafting Session on the Outcome Document
15 June 2015, New York
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning.
Allow me first to congratulate all of you for the progress that you have achieved in the last few weeks. I have been following negotiations and I am very encouraged by your hard work and engagement in this process.
I would like to thank Ambassadors Talbot and Pedersen in particular for their leadership and dedication. We count on your continued commitment to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion by the end of this week.
You are indeed entering the final stretch of a long road. As you begin these last five days of negotiations, I urge you to keep in mind that Addis presents a historic opportunity – one that we cannot afford to miss.
Your challenging task is to formulate a holistic financing framework for sustainable development that is commensurate in ambition and scope with the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs. Only then will the Addis Conference put us on a path to success for the summit in New York in September and for COP 21 in Paris in December.
There are a number of proposals and ideas on the table that are truly transformative. They should meet the high hopes and expectations that we all have – expectations not only by those of us gathered in this room, but by people around the world. We need to ensure an ambitious and meaningful Conference outcome for the future of the people and planet.
I trust that these expectations will not burden but rather inspire you to reach an agreement that retains the key elements of the draft Addis Ababa Accord. I believe there is even room for further strengthening some of the commitments and proposals in the text.
I will follow the discussions closely this week, as will the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly. We will be available to support you in any way necessary. I also encourage you to follow the able guidance of your co-facilitators towards successful conclusion of your work by Friday.
I am truly confident in your ability to meet the high expectations that the world has put in you, and in your political will to reach a truly ambitious agreement.
Thank you.