First official trilateral exchange France-Germany-Switzerland on future Sustainable Development Goals

Bern, 20.06.2013 - The official representatives of the constituency France-Germany-Switzerland in the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) met for the first time in Berne. The Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Martin Dahinden, hosted the meeting with Germany’s Minister of State, Michael G. Link, and Mr Sujiro Seam, representing the French Minister for Development, Pascal Canfin. The three parties agreed on jointly advancing consensus finding towards a new framework for global sustainable development.

In June 2012, on the occasion of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the international community agreed on elaborating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Rio+20 outcome document The Future We Want mandated the creation of an inter-governmental Open Working Group, that shall submit a report to the 68th session of the General Assembly (between September 2013 and September 2014) containing a proposal for SDGs. Such goals should address and incorporate in a balanced way the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and be coherent with and integrated into the UN post 2015 Development Agenda, the UN process for the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after their expiry in 2015. The SDGs are important because they have the potential to help reshape the global social and economic playing field and hence to ensure sustainable development for all. They can contribute in particular to effectively eradicate poverty, improve living conditions for all and preserve the planet for current and future generations.

France, Germany and Switzerland share a seat in the Open Working Group on SDGs, building on a common vision of achieving sustainable development and the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030. The high-level representatives of the three member states agreed on the importance to join forces in order to advance consensus finding in the Open Working Group on a new set of SDGs.

The Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Martin Dahinden, Germany’s Minister of State, Michael G. Link, and Mr Sujiro Seam, representing the French Minister for Development, Pascal Canfin, confirmed that the three neighbouring countries support a transformative and universal agenda targeting key economic, social and environmental drivers towards sustainable development. They recalled that such a global ambition involves goals universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities and capacities and respecting national policies and priorities. The three country representatives agreed that the formulation of goals should be based on human rights, respect for the earth’s carrying capacity, social inclusion and stronger engagement for the most vulnerable.

France, Germany and Switzerland share the opinion that the international discussion on a new agenda beyond 2015, succeeding the MDGs and integrating the SDGs, represents a unique opportunity to design a universal agenda to ensure better life for all human beings today and in the future. The Special event on the MDGs and the post 2015 agenda, organised on 25 September in New York on the occasion of the 68th General Assembly, will be particularly important to enhance the collective involvement on the MDGs and to define a roadmap towards one single agenda. They welcome the valuable contributions to the UN Secretary General’s report to be submitted to the member states during this event, among others the High Level Panel’s report, which represents a valuable contribution to the discussion – also in the Open Working Group. The Open Working Group will play a critical role for feeding the discussions on the post 2015 agenda. The three countries will do their utmost to help the Open Working Group to deliver strong and bold recommendations on future sustainable development goals and a new global partnership.

They agreed to continue their high-level trilateral dialogue.

Point of contact:

• Michael Gerber, Ambassador, Special Representative for Global Sustainable Development, FDFA/SDC, +41 31 234 72 26
• Mathilde Bouyé, Coordinator of the French Post-2015 Task Force, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France, +33 1 43 17 73 50
• Julia Kahrl, Office of the Minister of State Michael Link, Federal Foreign Office, + 49 30 28 17 0


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