Finland
26 MARCH 2015, NEW YORK
POST-2015 IGN SESSION ON GOALS, TARGETS AND INDICATORS
STATEMENT BY FINLAND ON TARGETS
DELIVERED BY AMBASSADOR RIITTA RESCH
Finland aligns with the statement made by the European Union yesterday and we would like to make these additional remarks in our national capacity.
Finland fully supports the report of the Open Working Group but we also thought that there was a need to examine some of the targets more in detail and complete some of them. Therefore we are grateful to the co-facilitators and the UN system for the work done and the paper presented on Monday.
We saw two pertinent reasons for this work – at a minimum. One was the "x"s and the other one was conformity and consistency with existing commitments and agreements as well as standards of international law.
First, the "x"s. We consider it important to find numerical figures for those "x"s in this global process. We need to complete the work of the OWG in this respect. Finding a common understanding for those figures and not doing it separately at the national level would enhance the universality of our agenda. Universality is one of the key aspects of the future agenda for us.
Second, conformity and consistency with the existing commitments and agreements as well as the standards of international law is equally important for us in this process. This has to do with the timelines included in our targets. Our ambition levels must be higher, not lower, that the existing ones. This is an issue of credibility not only to our Heads of State and Government, but to the whole international community to which we are going to present this agenda.
I would also like to thank the co-facilitators for the clarifications and explanations given yesterday about the work done so far and on how you arrived at these 19 targets presented to us. This gives us confidence that under your leadership this work will be taken forward. We are convinced that when this work is completed we can preserve the ambition, political balance and breadth of the OWG proposal including maintaining the balance among the three dimensions of sustainable development and the related inter-linkages across the goals and targets.
Thank you.
POST-2015 IGN SESSION ON GOALS, TARGETS AND INDICATORS
STATEMENT BY FINLAND ON TARGETS
DELIVERED BY AMBASSADOR RIITTA RESCH
Finland aligns with the statement made by the European Union yesterday and we would like to make these additional remarks in our national capacity.
Finland fully supports the report of the Open Working Group but we also thought that there was a need to examine some of the targets more in detail and complete some of them. Therefore we are grateful to the co-facilitators and the UN system for the work done and the paper presented on Monday.
We saw two pertinent reasons for this work – at a minimum. One was the "x"s and the other one was conformity and consistency with existing commitments and agreements as well as standards of international law.
First, the "x"s. We consider it important to find numerical figures for those "x"s in this global process. We need to complete the work of the OWG in this respect. Finding a common understanding for those figures and not doing it separately at the national level would enhance the universality of our agenda. Universality is one of the key aspects of the future agenda for us.
Second, conformity and consistency with the existing commitments and agreements as well as the standards of international law is equally important for us in this process. This has to do with the timelines included in our targets. Our ambition levels must be higher, not lower, that the existing ones. This is an issue of credibility not only to our Heads of State and Government, but to the whole international community to which we are going to present this agenda.
I would also like to thank the co-facilitators for the clarifications and explanations given yesterday about the work done so far and on how you arrived at these 19 targets presented to us. This gives us confidence that under your leadership this work will be taken forward. We are convinced that when this work is completed we can preserve the ambition, political balance and breadth of the OWG proposal including maintaining the balance among the three dimensions of sustainable development and the related inter-linkages across the goals and targets.
Thank you.
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