United States Mission to the United Nations
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
For Immediate Release
July 19, 2023
ICYMI: At Aspen Security Forum, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield Highlights U.S. Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals Ahead of September Summit
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, spoke with NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell on the opening night of the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, about U.S. support for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At the halfway mark on the road to 2030, only 12 percent of the SDG targets are on track to be reached. On “half of the SDGs we have not made very much progress,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. We must “ramp up our efforts and show the world that we are serious, and we’re committed to reaching these goals.”
Globally, COVID and multiple crises – like Russia’s war on Ukraine – slowed progress on the SDGs. The SDG Summit, to be held in September during the 78th UN General Assembly High-level Week, will mark the beginning of a new, re-invigorated phase toward achieving the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“One of the goals that’s most important to me is the goal of ending hunger,” the Ambassador continued. “We will be president of the Security Council in August, and this is my third presidency where I have made hunger the centerpiece. Some have asked, ‘Why do you keep doing the same thing over and over?’ And the answer to that is: we haven’t ended it yet. And we’re dealing with famine in the Horn of Africa, where we are very proud that we averted the famine last year, but what we’re not saying is that hundreds of people still died.”
“We have to find a way,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. “We have the tools. We have the know-how to end hunger.”
You can read the Ambassador’s full remarks from the Aspen Security Forum here.
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