China playing growing role in UN 2030 goals

With Beijing poised to convene the first high-level Forum on Global Action for Shared Development on Monday, analysts have highlighted the increasingly prominent role China has played in the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The conference, expected to bring together high-ranking officials from 27 countries and representatives from over 20 UN agencies, comes a year after President Xi Jinping presided via video over the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, rolling out a host of measures to support global development cooperation.

Zhou Taidong, vice-president of the Center for International Knowledge on Development, said Monday's high-level conference, the first official forum under the framework of the Global Development Initiative, will be an occasion for China to respond to the development needs of other developing countries.

"It will help rally forces from different sectors to take pragmatic action and transform the GDI from a unilateral initiative to multilateral action," he said.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is now facing multiple setbacks, he said, with geopolitical conflicts and tensions leading to severe deficits in trust and further aggravation of global development imbalances.

A report released by the UN in April said that a preliminary assessment of roughly 140 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals showed only about 12 percent are on track. Close to half of the targets, though showing progress, are "moderately" or "severely" off track and 30 percent have either seen no movement or regressed below the 2015 baseline.

"The SDGs are disappearing in the rearview mirror — and with them the hope and rights of current and future generations," the report said.

Under the GDI, Beijing has ratcheted up its input into the global development agenda, Zhou said. The country has offered new platforms, developed new mechanisms and provided new resources for the UN to achieve its agenda.

The initiative has so far garnered support from over 100 countries and international organizations, with close to 70 countries joining the Group of Friends of the GDI.

The GDI project pool, unveiled during a ministerial-level meeting of the Group of Friends of the GDI in September, includes over 100 cooperation programs and directly benefits almost 40 developing nations.

Zhang Haisen, vice-dean of the School of International Development and Cooperation at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the role of China will only become more prominent in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"From global issues such as climate change to regional issues such as offering humanitarian assistance, the role of China in leading the philosophy of development and joint actions will only be further reinforced," he said.

To bring the world back on track to achieve the 2030 agenda, Zhang said that developed economies must honor their commitments to global development and help tackle challenges, including a lack of funding.