00:00 is failing across the board to meet its 2030 sustainability
00:05 goals, and the gap between wealthy and developing nations
00:08 is just getting wider.
00:10 From poverty to clean energy to biodiversity,
00:13 not a single one of the targets agreed by UN member states
00:17 in 2015 is on track, and this halfway
00:21 through the agreed time frame.
00:23 Now, the report on progress towards the Sustainable
00:26 Development Goals, or SDGs, ranked four African countries
00:31 right at the bottom five of all nations assessed,
00:34 with South Sudan right at the bottom.
00:37 The authors warn that global governance and finance
00:41 needs to change, and is key if the world is
00:44 to ride out collective life or death challenges,
00:47 like climate change.
00:49 Now, those questions are at the heart of a crucial global
00:52 finance summit that will kick off here in Paris on Thursday.
00:57 Before that, I caught up with South Africa's
00:59 international relations minister and asked
01:01 her why so many believe that there needs to be
01:04 a change in global finance.
01:08 Well, I think that the focus on development
01:12 has altered considerably in the last five years,
01:16 and more particularly in the past two years of this conflict
01:21 between Russia and Ukraine.
01:24 Much more attention is being paid by the North to Ukraine
01:27 and support for it, rather than the conflicts
01:31 on the African continent or issues of development
01:35 on the African continent.
01:36 We've even seen a decline in aid support.
01:41 There's very little mention of very terrible conflicts
01:47 on the African continent, and inadequate attention
01:51 to the sustainable development goals, which were and are
01:55 the global agenda for development.
01:58 So you think that the changes have come about relatively
02:02 in the short term, do you think that that
02:05 can be shifted away from?
02:07 Well, I don't think it's merely been over the short term.
02:10 I think there have been several years of not really
02:14 honouring commitments.
02:15 I mean, for example, one of the topics
02:19 that will be focused upon in the summit
02:21 is the issue of climate change and how support
02:25 is provided for mitigation.
02:28 Over a number of conferences of the parties,
02:32 there have been commitments for funding and technology
02:36 transfer.
02:37 Very few of these commitments have been realised,
02:40 even in terms of the promised financing, which
02:44 is so necessary for countries, especially developing countries,
02:49 to respond to the effects of climate change
02:52 and make the necessary productive adjustments that
02:58 reduce harmful emissions and modernise countries so that
03:03 they are greener and cleaner.
03:05 So it's been several years of, I think,
03:09 of neglect and inadequate attention
03:13 to really working in partnership to advance global development
03:19 goals.
03:20 The most stark evidence of this was
03:25 seen with the vaccine response on COVID-19,
03:29 where developing countries, and particularly Africa,
03:33 were at the back of the queue.
03:36 And developed countries hoarded vaccines, which up to today
03:41 have not been fully utilised.
03:44 How will you make sure that there
03:46 is an alignment between what happens here in Paris
03:49 and what's come before?
03:51 I think that's the responsibility of leaders,
03:54 of the participants.
03:55 What I'm pleased about with respect to the summit
03:59 is that the various institutions are being drawn together.
04:03 So sometimes a summit of this nature is called,
04:07 United Nations is absent, or the World Bank, or the IMF.
04:12 But at this summit, all of these institutions
04:15 are party to the deliberations.
04:17 And then how do we ensure, with respect
04:20 to multilateral finance institutions,
04:23 that developing countries have a real voice,
04:25 that the quota that they have as part of these institutions
04:29 matters and has an impact on their progress?
04:34 So I would like to see, rather than a new set of debates
04:39 and just a sort of talk shop, an increased
04:44 attention to a coherent, coordinated set of proposals
04:51 that must then be packaged by the premier multilateral
04:56 institution, which we all belong to,
04:58 which is the United Nations.
05:00 What summits must avoid is becoming
05:04 talk shops, which cause us to be wary and weary of these
05:10 constant conferences where wonderful conclusions are
05:16 spoken of, beautiful, very long declarations.
05:21 And yet three years down the line, when you look back,
05:24 you actually haven't made any progress.
05:26 So I'm hoping that now the urgency of making progress
05:31 on development will influence concrete planning,
05:36 concrete strategy, and real outcomes.
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