Press launch | High-level Political Forum concludes with name for accelerated motion on sustainable growth

Ministerial Declaration reaffirms dedication to the Sustainable Development Goals

New York, 23 July 2025 – The 2025 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) concluded this week with Member States calling for pressing, coordinated motion to speed up progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member States adopted a ministerial declaration that demonstrates the political will to attain the SDGs for the good thing about all.

“The SDGs represent the common sense of humanity,” mentioned Bob Rae, President of the UN Economic and Social Council. He additional famous that “strengthening national ownership of the SDGs is essential. That means integrating them into national development plans, budgets, and policies—not as an add-ons, but as the core of how Governments serve their people.” He added that “We need to reaffirm the UN’s relevance through results—by showing that multilateralism delivers real, tangible benefits for people at every level of society.”

Held from 14 to 23 July below the auspices of the ECOSOC, the HLPF got here at a vital time as nations try to handle intersecting world challenges—from protracted conflicts and financial instability to the escalating local weather disaster.

Building on the outcomes of the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla – that ended with a name to urgently deal with the $4 trillion annual shortfall in financing wanted to attain the SDGs – the progress made on the HLPF will assist inform discussions on the upcoming eightieth session of the UN General Assembly.

“The Sustainable Development Goals are not a dream,” mentioned United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in his opening remarks on 21 July. “They are a plan. A plan to keep our promises — to the most vulnerable people, to each other, and to future generations.”

Over the course of two weeks, the Forum introduced collectively over 6,000 in-person individuals, together with governments, youth, civil society, scientists, the non-public sector, and different key companions, to share experiences and highlight modern, inclusive options to advance SDG implementation. Discussions targeted on built-in responses to at present’s most urgent points below the theme “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for leaving no one behind.” The SDGs reviewed in-depth had been Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 14 (Life Below Water) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Accelerating SDG implementation vital to handle world challenges

The just lately launched the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025 revealed that important progress has been made in world well being, schooling, and sustainability: new HIV infections have fallen practically 40 per cent since 2010, malaria prevention has saved over 12 million lives since 2000, and social safety now reaches greater than half the world’s inhabitants.

Yet solely 35 per cent of targets are on monitor or making reasonable progress, whereas practically half are advancing too slowly and 18 per cent have regressed. More than 800 million individuals proceed to dwell in excessive poverty, whereas billions lack entry to protected consuming water, sanitation, and hygiene providers. Temperatures reached 1.55°C above pre-industrial ranges in 2024, making it the most popular yr on file. Conflicts led to almost 50,000 deaths that very same yr, and compelled displacement affected over 120 million individuals worldwide. At the identical time, low- and middle-income nations confronted record-high debt servicing prices of $1.4 trillion in 2023.

The report known as for motion throughout six precedence areas the place intensified efforts might ship transformative impression: meals methods, power entry, digital transformation, schooling, jobs and social safety, and local weather and biodiversity motion.

Voluntary National Reviews

Thirty-five nations introduced their Voluntary National Reviews on the Forum — highlighting the actions they’ve taken to attain the SDGs.

Snapshot of nations’ reporting on progress:

• Bangladesh leverages the Future nation platform to attach 1000’s of younger individuals from marginalized and mainstream backgrounds to skill-building, entrepreneurship, and job alternatives, bridging talent gaps by way of digital instruments and world mentorship.
• Ethiopia’s “5 Million Coders Initiative” equips youth with digital abilities utilizing free, licensed, offline-accessible programs to bridge divides.
• Finland has made progress in marine safety, reaching the goal of conserving10 % of its whole marine space. It actively participates in negotiations for a brand new treaty to finish plastic air pollution. Finland’s protected areas cowl about 13% of its land space.
• Germany’s Gender Equality (Management Positions) Act mandates a 30% quota for girls on supervisory boards of sure firms, with a nationwide goal of accelerating this to 40% by 2030. The federal public service goals for gender parity in management positions for girls by 2025.
• Japan’s “SDGs Award” system has efficiently promoted nationwide efforts, considerably growing public consciousness of the SDGs from 50% in 2021 to roughly 90% in 2023.Various SDGs-related award packages sponsored by ministries and businesses proceed to advance particular initiatives, such because the Food Loss and Waste Reduction Promotion Award and the Green Infrastructure Award.
• Lesotho has improved its authorized framework with legal guidelines just like the Counter Domestic Violence Act (2022) and has seen elevated ladies’s political participation at native ranges as a result of legislated quotas.
• Malta’s Electronic Public Procurement System (ePPS) has digitized procurement processes, incorporating modules for Green Public Procurement (GPP) and power effectivity requirements.
• Nigeria is making investments to foster innovation, assist Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), improve e-governance, and create jobs by way of expanded entry to inexpensive, high-speed web.
• Papua New Guinea is investing in digital literacy packages, particularly for rural ladies, offering ICT coaching for entrepreneurs, coding programs, and digital monetary literacy.
• Qatar actively engages youth by way of its Qatar Youth Innovation Award and hosts the Doha Forum, Youth Edition, which brings collectively younger leaders globally for discussions on urgent challenges.
• Seychelleshas enacted a Marine Spatial Plan in 2024, which legally designates 33% of its ocean territory for conservation and sustainable use. They have additionally achieved a notable discount in plastic air pollution by way of clean-up efforts and public consciousness campaigns.
• Suriname’s Labour Market Policy addresses workforce growth by way of skill-building initiatives and labor market integration methods, together with a nationwide technique for Youth Employment.

Events held in reference to HLPF

In reference to the 2025 HLPF, there have been 12 high-level particular occasions, 13 VNR labs, 190 facet occasions and eight exhibitions, with quite a few noteworthy outcomes together with however not restricted to the under:

For extra info, please go to:  ; /media | Hashtags: #HLPF, #GlobalGoals, #SDGs

Media contacts 

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

UN Department of Global Communications