ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday stressed the need for concessional financing and debt relief for developing nations to bridge funding gaps in meeting global sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The comments came during Dar’s address at a debate of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development’s (HLPF) Ministerial Segment in New York for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs.
The 2025 HLPF is themed around advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, including good health and well-being, gender equality, decent work and economic growth.
Speaking at the forum, Dar said only 35 percent of the Agenda 2030 SDGs were on track and the compounding effects of the pandemic, food, fuel and finance crises as well as intensifying climate impacts had reversed the hard-won development gains and deepened inequalities.
“While national efforts are essential, these cannot succeed in isolation,” he said, calling for a “deep reform” of the international financial architecture to implement the SDGs.
“Developing countries need scaled up access to concessional and grant-based resources, meaningful debt relief, and scaled-up climate finance in order to bridge the SDG financing gap.”
The statement comes as Pakistan treads a long path to economic recovery while facing adverse impacts of climate change, with extreme weather events frequently affecting the South Asian country in recent years. So far this monsoon, more than 200 people have lost their lives in Pakistan as heavy rains continue to last parts of the country.
Dar said his country was scaling up climate action, targeting 60 percent renewable energy by 2030, and enhancing resilience through various initiatives.
“Our revised nationally determined contribution is nearing finalization,” he said. “We have also undertaken key macroeconomic reforms to stabilize our fiscal outlook and make the investment climate even more attractive.”
The Pakistani deputy PM said the Compromiso de Seville, a renewed global framework adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development this month, offered a clear roadmap to tackle the challenges of financing sustainable development.
The framework focuses on closing the $4 trillion annual financing gap for the SDGs, addressing debt crises, and reforming the international financial system.
“Its implementation must begin without delay,” Dar added.
Dar is on a week-long visit to the United States to preside over the key events in the UN Security Council during Pakistan’s presidency for the month of July, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
He is also scheduled to hold a meeting with UN secretary-general as well as president of the UN General Assembly in New York.
