‘No one will be left behind’, PM tells SDG Summit

The event was held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City as part of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 78).

Speaking on the topic “Mobilizing finance and investments and the means of implementation for SDG achievement,” Srettha affirmed the Thai government’s priority to attaining the sustainable development goals, noting these were key to Thailand’s sustainable future.

“UN has announced that this decade be the ‘Decade of Action’. Political will must go hand in hand with international solidarity,” he said. “Effective multilateralism and a strong multilateral architecture need to be fostered, which will allow the global community to tackle these challenges and accelerate SDG implementation.”

Srettha added that it is crucial that the international community address the SDG financing gap, scale up SDG investment, find innovative sources of finance, and level the playing field regarding international financial architecture.

“Thailand supports the Secretary-General’s call for the reform of this architecture, and his SDG Stimulus of US$500 billion a year until 2030,” he insisted.

Srettha also told the assembly that Thailand has issued two sets of sustainability bonds which raised US$12.5 billion in green and social investments, and launched the Thailand Green Taxonomy as a reference tool for economic activities deemed as environmentally sustainable.

More than 100 companies in Thailand making up the Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT) have pledged to invest US$43 billion in SDG-related projects by 2030, he added.

Srettha highlighted Thailand’s commitment to people-centred and planet-centric development using the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) and the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economy model to strike a balance among the economic, social, and environmental goals of the SDGs.

The Thai PM then announced three national commitments towards SDG attainment, aiming to uplift the livelihoods and well-being of the people and empower the grassroots segments of society:

1. Pledging to leave no one behind while reaching those furthest behind first, and aiming to alleviate all households living with generational poverty from their predicament by 2027

2. Pledging to promote and protect the human rights of all persons. To promote the right to health, Thailand will adopt measures to ensure that the number of households facing health impoverishment is minimised to below 0.25% by 2027.

3. Pledging to foster cooperation and partnerships at all levels in support of climate action, including ensuring access to affordable modern energy services for all by 2030.