High Level Political Forum of the United Nations

Bern, 16.07.2018 - Speech by Federal Councillor, Doris Leuthard, for the General Debate in the context of the High Level Political Forum of the United Nations in New York, 16 July 2018

Mr. President

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

The agreement on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was a milestone for the United Nations and its member states.

Switzerland continues to fully support the Agenda and to advocate for a strong follow-up and review mechanism. Thus, I am looking forward to presenting our country report in this year’s Voluntary National Review.

Two and a half years after the adoption, the focus must shift from theory to implementation. Unfortunately, the rate of progress in many areas is too slow. Some trends even go in the wrong direction.

Let me highlight two examples: climate change and migration.

Climate change mitigation and adaptation are fundamental to the achievement of almost all Sustainable Development Goals. To make the Paris Agreement fully operational, we must adopt a robust “rule book” by 2018. The rule book is to include guidance on formulating future Nationally Determined Contributions to ensure clarity and understanding, guidance in relation to cooperative approaches with markets as well as guidance for thorough reporting and verification. All Parties to the Paris Agreement must maintain NDCs holding maximal temperature increase below 2 or 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the moment, we are falling short of these agreed goals and this is a matter of concern for Switzerland. We call for action at the upcoming conference of the parties in Katowice, Poland.

We must also address in a holistic manner the adverse drivers of forced migration while taking into account the potential benefits of migration for sustainable development. That is why we need coherent, long-term and comprehensive strategies along the whole migration cycle. In this regard, Switzerland welcomes the successful conclusion of negotiations on the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular Migration last week that is fully rooted in the Agenda 2030.

Partnerships between the public sector, the private sector, academia and civil society are at the heart of the Agenda. 

The cooperation between the public and the private sector is not only about mobilizing additional financial resources. It is also about incentivizing the private sector to embrace new and more sustainable business models. Sustainability does not come at the expense of profitability. The constant growth of sustainable finance, also in Switzerland, shows that investing in sustainable development pays off. We need a change of mind-set and better information for entrepreneurs and customers to leverage the untapped potential. International Geneva can make an important contribution in this regard.

In order to achieve the 2030 Agenda, we need a strong, modern and efficient United Nations. Therefore, Switzerland fully supports the Secretary-General’s reform agenda.

In view of the challenges and the interconnectedness of the world today, business as usual and proceeding on our own is not an option.

Thank you for your attention.

Address for enquiries

Communication DETEC, +41 58 462 55 11

Publisher

General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC
https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html