The United Nations’ plans to fight hunger and climate change have not been adequately carried out, the organization’s former secretary general Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday.
“Three years (after the) Sustainable Development Goals were announced and presented to the world, the report of implementation is not satisfactory,” said Ban who is chairman of the Boao Forum, which is held in the Hainan province of Chinaannually.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set in 2015. The 17 targets outlined in the plan are aimed at addressing global challenges such as climate change, poverty, education, inequality and environmental degradation by 2030.
Ban’s views echoed those by other experts who recently raised concerns that world efforts to reach those goals were not on track.
In January, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, told Reuters there was “a lot of lip service but not enough action” to meet those targets.
Clark, who headed the UN’s sustainability goals program from 2009 to 2017, said a shift to the political right in countries like the U.S. and Brazil, has shattered the unity of the world community that was present when the SDG and Paris Agreement were signed.
Ban urged UN member states, the private sector and individuals to strive to implement those goals fully.
“We need global concerted action, then we have to work for common development in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals United Nations has presented to the world,” said Ban.
