Mr. President,

I am pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, I would like to thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this timely and significant High-Level Meeting on sand and dust storms in the context of the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, and under the Theme of " Working across agendas for resilience and sustainability", to discuss the challenges faced by affected countries and to further practical actions at the regional and global levels.

Mr. President,

Sand and dust storms are an issue of international concern, the costs of which are measured in economic, social and environmental terms, and that sand and dust storms continue to grow and negatively affect the achievement of 11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their means of implementation.

Sand and dust storms pose a serious challenge to the sustainable development of affected countries and regions. In the past few years, sand and dust storms have inflicted substantial economic, social and environmental damage, especially in Africa and Asia, which underscores the urgent need to promptly take measures to address those challenges.

Combating sand and dust storms at all levels requires genuine and effective international cooperation. We underscore the importance of fostering an enabling international economic environment and ensuring the provision of effective means of implementation, including through the elimination of unilateral economic, financial, or trade measures against developing countries, and the expansion of access to technology, capacity-building, and long-term financing.

We urge regional, subregional, and interregional organizations and processes to actively strengthen the exchange of best practices, policy approaches, lessons learned, and technical expertise in support of the development and implementation of local, national, regional, and global strategies to combat and prevent sand and dust storms, address their root causes, mitigate their adverse impacts, and promote sustainable and long-term solutions.

We welcome the efforts of the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms to promote and coordinate a collaborative United Nations system response to the growing issue of sand and dust storms on a local, national, regional and global scale, ensuring that unified and coherent action is taken, and to facilitate the capacity-building of affected countries, raise their awareness and enhance their preparedness and response to sand and dust storms in critical regions.

We strongly urge that the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms to implement, as a matter of urgency, the activities identified by its five working groups, namely knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, training, awareness-raising, and support for the formulation of national, regional and interregional plans, to mitigate and prevent sand and dust storm hazards; further encourages the Coalition to intensify resource-mobilization efforts, and invites the Coalition to consider broadening the scope of its concept note to encompass other sectors affected by sand and dust storms, thereby ensuring full alignment with the Coalition's workplan.

The Group 77 and China also believes that the current rotational format for the coalition's chairmanship hinders the long-term effectiveness of the United Nations system in addressing sand and dust storms.

We once again reiterate our request to the Secretary-General to designate a relevant agency or entity with adequate capacity, by July 2025, to act as a focal point on sand and dust storms in the United Nations system to follow up the decisions in the relevant resolutions and the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

We also value the efforts of ESCAP and ESCWA in their capacities as the current co-chairs of the Coalition and commend their commitment to advancing coordinated action on combating sand and dust storms.

Mr. President,

Despite the escalating risks posed by sand and dust storms at regional and global levels, the international response remains insufficient, and the level of investment continues to fall short of what is required. It is imperative that SDS be elevated as a matter of global priority. This calls for strengthened political will, the integration of SDS into national and global development agendas, scaled-up resource mobilization, enhanced capacity-building efforts, and the promotion of sustainable international cooperation.

I thank you for your attention.