Mr. President,
 
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, the Group of 77 wishes to thank you for your efforts in convening this Special Meeting of the High Level Political Forum on sustainable development under the auspices of ECOSOC that including the high level segment of ECOSOC containing the Ministerial Segment of HLPF, the Annual Ministerial review and the Development Cooperation Forum.

The high-level political forum had its first meeting under the auspices of the General Assembly last September, but this was an inaugural meeting, this is for the first time that HLPF under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council will be discussing a substantive agenda that is in within its mandate.

With this meeting we are entering a new phase in institutional governance for sustainable development, one that will be able to address challenges we will be facing in implementing the "rio+20" outcome "the future we want".

We would thus like to welcome this meeting and to warmly thank the President of ECOSOC as he has not spared any effort to bring us a really interesting and relevant agenda for the seven days of HLPF meetings.

We are looking forward to discussing Rio+20 follow-up including means of implementation and international cooperation, long term measures to make poverty eradication irreversible and reduce inequalities; integrated decision-making and how to review progress in implementation; strengthening science-policy interface through discussing scope and methodology for a global sustainable development report and giving our recommendations; sustainable consumption and production including 10-year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and giving recommendations to its board; countries in special situation and regional perspectives as well as future pathways and strengthening the forum.

Mr. President,

Regarding the issue of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) the Group of G77 and China, acknowledge that this is a transitional time, from the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) to the HLPF. We, as all the member states of the UN, want to have a seamless transition, from now on to 2016.

We recall that the mandate of the AMR and of the HLPF are different. They can be complementary, but different. We stress the capital importance of the HLPF and its role in sustainable development. It is our earnest desire to strengthen the ECOSOC and ensure that it plays a central role in the implementation of sustainable development agenda. In this context, we as G77 and China wish for a strong outcome of the HLPF, agreed in accordance with what is already established in resolutions 61/16, 67/290 and 68/1.

We are looking also forward to adopting HLPF declaration as the outcome of these meetings. We are looking forward to a concise political declaration that addresses concerns of all countries.

Thank you.