Countdown to a historic moment for development - Main contents

The end of one process and the beginning of another

After so many months of years of careful preparation, intensive negotiation and hard work by everyone involved, the special United Nations summit, in which the new Sustainable Development Goals will be adopted, is finally upon us. Upon landing in New York, it is already evident that the next three days will be anything but ordinary. As countless representatives of governments, international organisations, the civil society, business and academia gather here for the 70th session of the United Nations General, there is clearly a shared understanding of the historic significance of our task.

We have come to the end of a truly remarkable process of unprecedented scale and inclusiveness. During the summit, we will adopt the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, which will set the course for international cooperation and development up to 2030. This really is a landmark event and achievement, one in which I'm proud to say the European Union has played a crucial role, supported by its Member States, the EU institutions and key stakeholders.

We've come a long way in the past 15 years, since the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, were agreed on by the international community to reduce poverty and improve the lives of people in developing countries. They have delivered great results. For example, the target to halve extreme poverty has not only been met, but has been met well ahead of schedule. However, progress has been unequal around the world - for instance, although many of the goals have been met in Asia, in Africa they are lagging behind.

That's why the new SDGs will need to go further than the MDGs; the world is a very different place now to what it was in 2000. The next Goals need to include social, economic and environmental targets if they are to be truly sustainable. The outcome document set to adopted in New York ("Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development"), shows that the international community is committed to working together to address the challenges we face and ensure a better future for people and planet. The range and scope of the goals is ambitious and challenging, but also shows the determination to effect the necessary change in putting the world onto a sustainable path.

Within the 2030 Agenda, a total of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets have been defined (you can see them here: http://www.globalgoals.org/). They cover areas such as poverty, inequality, food security, health, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, but also gender equality and accountable institutions. Crucially, this new agreement is universal. It applies to all countries. We all share ownership of it and we all have a shared responsibility for its implementation.

The EU has been a leading voice in the post-2015 process right from the start and we stand ready to fully implement this new Agenda through at home, and to support others to do the same. The recent collective EU recommitment to reach 0.7% of GNI for official development assistance within the timeframe of the 2030 Agenda is a clear demonstration of EU's commitment to supporting our partner countries to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

I feel incredibly honoured, and inspired, to be at the helm of the EU's development policy at this key juncture in international development. Never has the international community had the potential to make such a difference with its work. I strongly believe that 2030 Agenda, with the SDGs at its core, can be a game-changer. It is ambitious but achievable.