The United Nations has designated the 2020s as the "decade of action to deliver the SDGs by 2030", and calls on all countries and stakeholders to take accelerated actions toward achieving the SDGs. However, at the start of this important decade, the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a serious impact on economies, societies, and human health worldwide. In this context, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, "far from undermining the case for the SDGs, the root causes and uneven impacts of COVID-19 demonstrate precisely why we need the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change […]”. At the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), held online in July 2020, the message was clear: the 2030 Agenda should be placed at the heart of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as a guide to building back better.
One of the keys to accelerating action to achieve the SDGs is understanding interrelated issues, and enhancing synergies between different policies and initiatives. This event will therefore consider crucial questions, such as: How can countries and stakeholders strengthen their actions to maximise these synergies, and take the lead on “building back better”? And what role can the Japanese government and stakeholders play in this process? It was held online with participation from UN officials, the business sector, academia, youth, and international media to explore these questions and share Japan's principal efforts with the world.
Event Details
Online (Zoom)
HLPF Outreach-event Team
[email protected]
Presentation Materials
Opening Remarks | Hiroyoshi Sasagawa, State Minister of the Environment, Japan | ||
Video messages | Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) | Video Clip | |
Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) | Video Clip | ||
Part 1: Speeches | |||
Building back better from COVID-19 for the achievement of the SDGs - Outcomes of HLPF2020 and future prospects - TAKADA Minoru, Team Leader (Energy), UNDESA |
PDF (1.9MB) | ||
Climate Crisis and “Building Back Better” from the COVID-19 Crisis: A Message from the UN Secretary-General NEMOTO Kaoru, Director, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Video: Climate Action for People and Planet Video: “Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times” a special film created by the United Nations to mark five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals |
PDF (1.9MB) | ||
Initiatives by the Ministry of the Environment Japan as part of the Recovery from COVID-19 Tomohiro Kondo, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
PDF (1.0MB) | ||
Media Coverage of COVID-19 from an SDG Perspective Lynn Wagner, Senior Director, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) |
Video Clip | ||
Part 2: Panel discussion “Exploring synergies between actions on SDGs and efforts to address climate change, biodiversity and disaster prevention, with advanced efforts from Japan” |
|||
Moderator | Framing presentation TAKEUCHI Kazuhiko, President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) |
PDF (803KB) | |
Panelists | YAMAGUCHI Shinobu, Director, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) | PDF (1.1MB) | |
HASEGAWA Tomoko, Managing Director and Director of SDGs Promotion Bureau, Japan Business Federation | PDF (2.0MB) | ||
KURAISHI Haruna, Secretary General, Japan Youth Platform for Sustainability (JYPS) | PDF (1.5MB) | ||
Shinya Oda, Section Chief, Karatsu City | PDF (1.9MB) |
Recorded Video
Webinar: Report on the United Nations High-Level Political Forum 2020