UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” (developing countries and China) Monday called for emergency measures to overcome the recent “shocks” to the world economy, including the coronavirus pandemic and the spike in commodities prices that have disproportionately impacted the poorest countries.
“The severe global economic shocks caused by COVID-19, geopolitical instability, market volatility, have raised the scepter of the food, finance, debt crisis and created challenges to energy security and reversed progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the General Assembly Second Committee, which deals with economic and financial matters.
Speaking in a debate on Sustainable Development, he said that despite best efforts, developing nations are struggling to achieve notable progress on a wide range of goals and targets.
Pakistan is the current chairman of G77 and China, which now has 134 members and is the United Nations’ biggest intergovernmental group of emerging countries.
The G77 chairman estimated the shortfall in financing for development at $5 trillion, with developing countries suffering the most in this regard, even though they are disproportionately hit by the deleterious effects of climate change.
Since these countries do not have the means to emplace systems for mitigating and adapting to climate change, it is necessary to take emergency measures, particularly for countries in distress, and to promote structural change for developing countries and those suffering from global warming, Ambassador Akram said.
“To overcome these cascading crises, restore our economies and achieve the SDGs,” the G77 chairman said, “We need to secure means of implementation through a series of emergency measures and simultaneously promote structural changes in the unequal and unjust international economic system.”
