Activities of Carlos ZORRINHO related to 2023/2010(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (debate)
Amendments (47)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
— having regard to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 20221a _________________ 1a https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/Th e-Sustainable-Development-Goals- Report-2022.pdf
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— Having regard to the Commission Communication on decent work worldwide for a global just transition and sustainable recovery (COM(2022) 66 final, in particular its commitments included to achieve the SDGs,
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 b (new)
Citation 13 b (new)
— having regard to the 2022 UN Transforming Education Summit on 16- 19 September in New York;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 24 a (new)
Citation 24 a (new)
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas, with less than seven years to go until the deadline for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the new geopolitical landscape and the multiple crises in various areas have further hindered the achievement of the SDGs; whereas collective action on a new scale is urgently needed to respond to poverty that is ruining hundreds of millions of lives and to respond to the unprecedented threats to the habitability of our planet posed by the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises; whereas the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs are key to addressing the current challenges and reorienting the global compass towards a socially and environmentally just transition that leaves no one behind;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas, despite some progress on certain SDGs before the crises, some trends are now reversed; whereas, according to the SDNS Sustainable Development Report 2022, for the second year in a row, the world is no longer making progress on the SDGs and the average SDG Index score further declined in 2021;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. Whereas reducing inequalities (SDG 10) is inextricably linked to the overall implementation of the Agenda 2030 and to effective climate action; whereas sustainable resource mobilisation is essential for transformative public action; whereas tax justice, climate justice and intergenerational justice must be urgently pursued both within developed and developing countries;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
A d. whereas the COVID crisis required forceful public policy responses, for which developed countries rapidly found resources, and a wide consensus emerged on the need for a transformative “build back better” approach responding also to the deepening climate crisis; whereas, at the same time, the very asymmetric impact of the COVID crisis rapidly exacerbated the inequality crisis plaguing the world;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
A e. whereas education is a key resource for achieving the SDGs and a lifeline for people in crisis situations; whereas yet hundreds of millions of the most vulnerable children, youth and adults are still excluded from education today; whereas the education-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda have been severely derailed and risk leaving learners and societies ill-equipped to face an uncertain future;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A f (new)
Recital A f (new)
A f. Whereas the Commission has not yet devised an integrated plan for the EU’s implementation of Agenda 2030 or a financing plan for the SDGs, as requested several times by the EP, notably the resolution of 23 June 2022; whereas the Commission has committed to taking a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to SDG implementation;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A g (new)
Recital A g (new)
A g. Whereas there is a significant annual SDG investment gap of $USD 4 trillion and the fiscal space for relevant policies in developing countries’ is critically reduced by huge and further increasing debt burdens, external shocks related to the cumulating crises and the absence of a conducive international environment for domestic resource mobilisation;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A h (new)
Recital A h (new)
A h. whereas France will host an international summit on 22 and 23 June 2023 on the theme of a "New Global Financial Pact" in order to take stock of all the ways and means to strengthen financial solidarity with the countries of the Global South, especially in the context of the current and future crises they are facing;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A i (new)
Recital A i (new)
A i. whereas the 8th Union Environment Action Programme forms the basis for achieving the environmental and climate objectives defined under the UN 2030 Agenda and its SDGs; whereas the achievement of the environmental- and climate-related SDGs underpins the social and economic SDGs;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A j (new)
Recital A j (new)
A j. whereas the Joint Statement on legislative priorities for 2023 and 2024 sets the overarching objective to accelerate the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development through the legislative proposals put forward;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A k (new)
Recital A k (new)
A k. whereas the success of the European Green Deal and the pledge of a just green transition is inextricably linked to the achievement of the SDGs;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A l (new)
Recital A l (new)
A l. whereas 2023 is a pivotal year for the review of the SDGs and a push for their realisation by 2023, especially with the EU presenting its first Voluntary Review report at the HLPF in July 2023 and the global SDGs Summit on 19-20 September 2023 marking the mid-term of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses its commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with their 169 accompanying measurable targets, especially in light of the new deteriorating geopolitical landscape and the ongoing climate, biodiversity and health crises; warns against further polarisation in the distribution of wealth and income, which would lead to increaseding levels of inequality and poverty ; highlights, against this backdrop, the importance of the SDGs, which provide a universal compassthe only evidence-based universal policy roadmap for people’s prosperity and to, protecting the planet and averting the climate crisis; recalls that athe pledge to leave no one behind lies at the heart of the 2030 Agenda and that the achievement of the SDGs should benefit all countries, people and segments of society;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has disrupted the global energy supply systems, and has underscored the need to rapidly end dependence on fossil fuels and phase out all relevant subsidies and shift to renewable energy sources; stresses, in this regard, the urgency for the EU and Member States to make concerted efforts to progress towards SDG 7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all; underlines that security of energy supply, universal access and affordability in the long term can only be attained through renewable energy deployment; stresses that achieving SDG 7 will contribute to the attainment of several other SDGs, including in relation to poverty eradication, gender equality, climate change, food security, health, education, sustainable cities and communities, clean water and sanitation, decent jobs, innovation, transport, and refugees; highlights that the implementation of SDG 7 should be aligned with a just, inclusive and equitable energy transition with universal energy access, green jobs, diversified economies, people’s well-being and the empowerment of women, local communities and vulnerable groups to leave no one behind;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Welcomes the outcome of the UN 2023 Water Conference; calls on the EU and Member States to put forward ambitious commitments to advance on SDG 7; stresses that water policies must prioritise the sustainable management of rivers, lakes, wetlands, springs, and aquifers, guaranteeing their good ecological status, within the framework of the human right to a healthy environment and as key to confronting ongoing crises of pollution, deforestation, desertification, biodiversity loss, and climate change; highlights that water and sanitation services should be guided by the respect for human rights, leaving no one behind, including those who live in situations of vulnerability, marginalization or poverty; stresses that privatisation or commodification of water and sanitation services are detrimental to the complete fulfilment of human rights, and should therefore not be considered as policies at the global, national or local level, or in international cooperation, but that, instead, public ownership and management, strengthened through public-public and public-community partnerships, should be promoted;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to continue integrating the SDGs into the European Semester as its compass and to use the country- specific recommendations to systematically measure Member States’ progress and set out concrete proposals for improvement, including recommendations for country-specific SDG targets ; suggests that reporting on the implementation of the SDGs should be an opportunity to streamline the European Semester, notably in country reports and national reform programmes;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Recognises that the SDGs have to be strengthened through the creation of effective legal and regulatory frameworks, policies and practices at EU and Member States’ level to promote their implementation;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that voluntary national reviews are the cornerstone of the follow- up and review framework for the 2030 Agenda and a key accountability tool; welcomes the Ccommission’s initiative to draft and present the first EU voluntary review report in 2023tment of nine EU Member States to present their national voluntary review at the 2023 HLPF and invites all Member States to engage in this process in the following years; emphasizes that voluntary national reviews can only serve the purpose of providing accountability if they are done in an objective manner that focuses on shortcomings as much as on achievements;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. welcomes the Commission’s initiative to draft and present the first EU voluntary review report in 2023;highlights the importance of the EU voluntary review containing: a. a reaffirmation of the EU’s commitment to deliver the Agenda 2030 and the accompanying Goals; b. a strategic overview of the EU commitments and targets to progress towards the SDGs, including, where applicable, quantified and time-bound targets for 2030; c. a comprehensive summary of EU internal and external actions in support of the implementation of the SDGs, as well as policy coherence between action at both levels, including potential trade-offs, having regard to impacts on partner countries; d. orientations on actions to be undertaken to take the implementation of the 2030 Agenda further, in particular in anticipation of the 2024-2029 Commission political priorities .
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines the importance of enhanced cooperation with partners in the Global South, particularly the African Union and civil society representatives, in order to implement the 2030 Agenda globally; notes that its implementation will enable partner countries to achieve their own development goals (e.g. the AU Agenda 2063) and their self-reliance on the path to a just and equal society; stresses in this context that the universality of the SDGs as a common agenda represents an opportunity to restore trust and position the EU as a bridge builder between the Global North and the Global South;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses, in this regard, that the EU and its Member States must avoid negative spillover effects at the expense of the Global South, which undermine their efforts to achieve the SDGs and which occur as a result of their Member States’ past economic and technological model; advocates cooperation with global partners to turn any negative spillover effects into virtuous circles; calls for all EU policies to be subject to a mandatory SDG check to provide more insight on and address any negative effects and ensure that change in this area is measurable; welcomes the recent agreement reached between the co- legislators on the Deforestation Regulation, which will ensure that products circulated in the EU market will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in other parts of the world; reiterates its calls on the Commission and on the Council to take the actions listed in its recent resolution on policy coherence for development so as to make the implementation of this principle effective;
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Reiterates its support for the work of Eurostat in relation to the SDGs monitoring in the EU; Points out that, in order to assess the Member States’ progress on the SDGs, the Eurostat sustainable development indicators must be improved by filling the gaps for some SDGs and better measuring policies’ impact on territories and specific vulnerable groupscross- border and long-term distributional impact on territories and specific marginalized and vulnerable groups, in the EU and globally;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Stresses that a minimum level of data and statistical disaggregation should be ensured in the Eurostat SDG monitoring, closer aligned to the global SDG monitoring framework, covering, where appropriate, geographic location, gender, income, education level, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, impairment and other characteristics;
Amendment 328 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes, furthermore, that important evidence-based data remains unavailable on global, national and regional development policies in the Global South, particularly with regard to the their impact on poorest and most marginalised peoplevulnerable and marginalised groups and territories people; highlights that accurate and reliable data is crucial to measure progress and identify bottlenecks; regrets the lack of comprehensive ODA reporting per SDG by the EU and all Member States; calls for strengthening and accelerating human, institutional and infrastructure data capacity building, especially in the developing countries and EU internal monitoring tools, such as the Gender Marker or the newly established Inequality Marker;
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Highlights the importance of voluntary local reviews and voluntary subnational reviews as a means of further localising the SDGs and therefore advancing their implementation; stresses that regular comprehensive reviews of SDGs progress at sub-national and local level can reinforce vertical and horizontal coherence, stimulate local participation, facilitate peer-learning between regions and cities at global level and contribute to the overall SDG implementation; strongly supports, in this regard, the work of the Joint Research Center on localising the SDGs inter alia through the “REGIONS2030: Monitoring the SDGs in the EU regions - Filling the data gaps” project and the European Handbook for SDGs Voluntary Local Reviews; calls for a European platform for VLRs to foster exchange and learning as well as twinning approaches across Europe for accelerated SDG implementation at local level; suggests that this data be integrated in the EU cohesion policies;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Points out that there is a growing awareness that economic growth, as measured primarily by GDP, has little to do with prosperity and well-being and that sustainability must be at the core of economic systems; regrets that no policy at EU level aims at a paradigm shift or reform of our economic systems, including the replacement of GDP growth with a measure of progress based on the well-being of people and planet as the key measure of economic performance; Calls on the Commission to present the ‘beyond GDP’ dashboard without delay, as set out in the 8th environment action programme;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Draws attention to the fact that, with global GDP now over USD 100 trillion and the capitalisation of global equity and fixed income markets being around USD 250 trillion, global financial resources are sufficient for a big push towards closure of the SDG financing gap and should be made available for this, including through wealth and profit taxes and effective international measures against tax competition, tax avoidance and evasion;
Amendment 376 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls for the preparaadoption of an EU financing plan for the SDGs; underlines that the 2030 Agenda should guide all EU financing tools and their programming, especially the MFF, NDICI-Global Europe, EFSD+, the EU’s main development financing tools; calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for a social taxonomy to complement the green taxonomy and help implement the European Green Deal;
Amendment 382 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Stresses that important EU investment strategies like the Global Gateway must be clearly oriented towards and fully assessed against the need to implement the 2030 Agenda with its “leave no one behind” principle and encompassing the whole social, economic and environmental dimension;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18 b. Highlights the urgency to require financial institutions to define and adopt strategies and targets to align financial portfolios and other assets with the SDGs and regularly report on progress inter alia in the context of their ESG reporting;
Amendment 388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18 c. Encourages all actors across society, including public and private profit and non-profit entities, to engage in regular voluntary reporting on SDG implementation;
Amendment 389 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 d (new)
Paragraph 18 d (new)
18 d. Underlines the importance of making the Union budget consistent with the 17 SDGs and their respective sub- targets; invites the Commission to examine the modalities of a dedicated methodology for tracking SDGs expenditure in the Union budget, complementary to the climate and biodiversity tracking methodologies already in place; requests that a comprehensive mapping of the financial envelopes of existing and future Union policies, programmes and funds, including of the investments and structural reforms pursued under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, be made to ensure coherence with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda;
Amendment 390 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 e (new)
Paragraph 18 e (new)
Amendment 391 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 f (new)
Paragraph 18 f (new)
18 f. Calls on the EU and international partners to fully engage in real commitments and action during the international summit on the "New Global Financial Pact" in Paris in June to facilitate vulnerable countries' access to the financing they need to address the consequences of current and future crises and to implement Agenda 2030;
Amendment 417 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that more than half of the world’s 69 poorest countries face either a debt crisis or a high risk of one; welcomes the UN Secretary-General’s push for a global SDG stimulus package and calls for effective debt relief measures that make use of the full toolset available and include both ‘new lenders’ and private creditors; emphasises the need both for rapid debt relief, ending the “too little, too late”1asyndrome and unnecessary aggravation of debt situations, and for systemic changes towards a rules-based multilateral order capable of preventing new debt crises;Reiterates its call on the Commission, in consultation with all major international actors and the countries concerned, to draw up a genuine strategy to save developing countries from excessive indebtedness;Notes that the Common Debt Framework still does not provide concrete debt reliefand calls for an enhanced multilateraldebt relief initiative with an effective mechanism to engageprivate creditors, debt relief in return for SDG achievement and climate action (debt swaps) and measures to facilitate lender coordination on new loan contracts; _________________ 1a https://www.undp.org/publications/dfs- avoiding-too-little-too-late-international- debt-relief
Amendment 421 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Points to the pertinence of its 2018 resolution “Enhancing developing countries’ debt sustainability”1a, which has only increased since new pressures and the lack of adequate action are now resulting in a new big debt crisis; Reaffirms the calls made in this resolution for the systematic consideration of resource needs in the context of human rights, including the right to development, and the prioritisation of these needs, for the establishment of an international debt repayment mechanism, for the transformation of the UNCTAD Principles to Promote Responsible Lending and Borrowing into legally binding and enforceable instruments, for the sanctioning of lenders who lend to manifestly corrupt governments or in violation of the law established by the national parliament of the borrowing state; _________________ 1a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/TA-8-2018-0104_EN.html
Amendment 426 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Welcomes the UN Secretary- General’s push for a global SDG Stimulus to Deliver Agenda 2030 and calls for effective debt relief measures that make use of the full toolset available and include both ‘new lenders’ and private creditors; calls for a collective response from the EU and its Member States to the SDG Stimulus initiative; calls also on the Commission to start without delay parallel preparation of proposals for such a plan;
Amendment 435 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Reiterates its support for private sector engagement to increase developmental investments in developing countries, but also warns of the risks involved, for example the erosion of universal access to quality public services or the overcompensation of private investors; Notes with great concern that the overall evidence of the development effectiveness of subsidising private investment remains weak;
Amendment 443 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22 b. Insists that Official Development Assistance (ODA), as defined in the OECD, should always have as its primary objective the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries; Stresses that the principles of development effectiveness should be followed, that human rights must be fully respected by all actors benefiting from blended finance and guarantees, and that the private sector entities involved must have a transparent ownership structure, practice country-specific reporting and refrain from tax avoidance; Calls on the Commission to ensure full transparency in private sector cooperation so that it is open to effective stakeholder, parliamentary and public scrutiny;
Amendment 446 #
22 c. Highlights that the NDICI-Global Europe mid-term review provides an opportunity to assess the EU’s contribution to achieve the SDGs worldwide and reaffirms its support towards the Agenda 2030 by setting out clear and measurable commitments for the coming years;
Amendment 468 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Suggests that the UN should push all Member States to support the introduction of concrete timelines and implementation plans that are binding for the signatory states towards 2030 and beyond; Furthermore calls on the UN to prepare a post-Agenda 2030 strategy well ahead of time;
Amendment 469 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission as well as to the Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the United Nations General Assembly .