Co-facilitators,
Many thanks for your discussion document – we welcome your work to keep the conversation this week open and flexible and think this is a very helpful and productive format for our deliberations.
Align to the EU. Four initial reactions (on the basis that we will come back to this in more detail later on in the process):
- First, we think the length of the Declaration is about right – difficult but helpful discipline to keep the length strictly in check – as others have said, we support the concept of footnoting text where possible.
- Second – and this goes to the point about how we can use the Declaration as a communications tool.
o On the one hand, all the key ideas are in there – and to namecheck them - finishing the job of the MDGs, eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development, achieving gender equality, combating climate change, delivering shared prosperity, strengthening governance/ institutions, rule of law and build peaceful societies and leaving no one behind.
o But on the other, and going back to vision, we think the Declaration could be braver and upfront, possibly in the first paragraph, with a framing concept that conveys clearly, succinctly and in an eye catching way, the real change that we want the post 2015 agenda to affect and the key outcomes that we want it to achieve. Something like the six essential elements could work – perhaps as Switzerland suggest framed as actions or outcomes. So we would welcome a stronger proposal from you, co-facilitators, on this, which respects the full breadth of the OWG agenda.
- Third, we think the Declaration could be stronger on the core principle of universality and that this should be an agenda that we commit to in all countries and all its aspects. Universality, combined with the principle of leave no one behind – that no target would be considered met unless bet by all economic and social groups – are inspiring and transformational principles and we should be proud to place them more prominently in the text.
- Fourth, we support the strong reference to climate change in the text. But we think we can more strongly convey the challenge that climate change presents to poverty eradication and sustainable development. And that the challenge ahead is around achieving poverty eradication, sustainable development and shared prosperity whilst respecting planetary boundaries and staying within 2 degrees.
