Photo: Courtesy of Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation

 
Experts and officials called for enhanced international cooperation and discussed the direction for future policies to promote the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 4th China and International Development Forum that kicked off Friday in Beijing. A report released at the forum unveiled that only 15 of the 169 SDGs are moving as planned.

The Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

According to the report, titled "China and International Development Report: Insights and Outlooks: 2023-2024" released by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC), among the 169 goals, only 15 are currently progressing according to plan, with nearly half of the goals severely off track.

About 30 percent of the goals have stagnated or even fallen below the 2015 baseline. Over the past three years, approximately 160 million people in 46 of the world's least developed countries have fallen below the poverty line. 

By 2030, the global poverty rate is projected to be around 7 percent, with 575 million people still living in extreme poverty, according to the report the CAITEC shared with the Global Times. 

The report pointed out that, in recent years, global development has faced multiple crises and challenges. The scale of development cooperation funding has reached a historic high, while the development financing gap remains difficult to bridge. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, development financing for developing countries, excluding China, has decreased by 17 percent, while the funding gap has increased by 70 percent. 

The self-interest of Western aid has become more pronounced. In 2022, Western countries' aid to Ukraine increased nearly 20 times from $918 million to $16.1 billion. However, at the same time, official development assistance to over 40 least developed countries decreased to $32 billion, compared to 2021, the report said. 

Data within the report fully illustrates that the current international situation is complex and volatile, with numerous risks and challenges, difficult economic recovery and shifting development issues, Wu Junru, an official from the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said at the forum. 

The implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda has clearly slowed down, and global development is facing multiple and severe challenges. Facing the stagnation of global development, China continues to believe that development should be achieved together, and only sustainable development is good development. China is not only a developing country in its own right but also a natural member of the Global South. China has long attached importance to both our own modernization and global development cooperation, Wu noted.

Two years ago, China proposed the Global Development Initiative, aiming to link and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 agenda, reuniting development consensus and promoting common development. 

China is willing to work together with all development partners, including the institutions present here and high-end think tanks such as the CAITEC, to gather consensus, pool wisdom, and mobilize resources to jointly promote the implementation of the 2030 agenda and inject new momentum into global development, Wu noted.

Following three years of parallel shocks and crises including the pandemic, war and conflicts, most developing countries are faced with increasingly constrained fiscal space and spiraling debt. The combined impact of these challenges has set back global development progress by decades. Furthermore, the climate crisis continues to worsen - threatening humanity's very existence. The year 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record, Beate Trankmann, representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in China, said in her speech at the forum. 

No single country or actor can tackle these challenges alone. Strengthened international development cooperation is essential to driving forward global progress on the SDGs, and maximize effectiveness in light of scarce resources and ever-growing demands, she stressed. 

"The world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, and global sustainable development is facing multiple challenges. In this new situation, China is accelerating its transformation towards international development cooperation. In this process, it is necessary for the government, industry, academies and researchers to strengthen collaboration. It is even more important to open up exchanges and deepen cooperation with the international community and jointly build a global development partnership," Gu Xueming, Dean of CAITEC said at the forum. 

Against this background, this year's forum is themed "Jointly Forging Global Development Partnerships to Accelerate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," aiming to build a dialogue platform, jointly explore the concepts, mechanisms, and best practices of international development cooperation in the new situation, and consolidate consensus and contribute wisdom to promote global sustainable development, Gu noted.

A total of 160 guests and representatives from various agencies attended the forum.