Mister President,

I have the honor to address you on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

On the outset, I would like to commend you for convening this special meeting on safeguarding energy and supply flows.

This discussion takes place in a particularly delicate context, as developing countries are once again facing an uncertain and challenging outlook, with the risk of bearing a disproportionate share of the burden.

We emphasize the critical socioeconomic benefits of affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and the need to reframe the understanding of energy from a technical unit to a requirement for basic social services, including healthcare, economic development and poverty eradication.

Following a period of tepid but resilient growth, global economic conditions are deteriorating sharply, driven by disruptions to global supply chains, including energy markets, in the wake of the ongoing war in the Middle East. Global growth is now projected to decline in 2026, relative to 2025. If the disruption is sustained, core and non-core inflation could increase, driven by higher energy, food, and fertilizer prices, as well as rising supply chain costs.

At the same time, we should think ahead strategically on how best to address the challenges; and to reflect on how to act in a timely and effective manner in order to achieve our common goal of sustainable development, leaving no one behind.

In this context, we reaffirm that it is important to ensure the availability of energy for developing countries, while recognizing that access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is fundamental for development. Collective efforts and strong international cooperation are needed to eradicate energy poverty, particularly in developing countries. We seek to ensure an inclusive approach that addresses the disproportionate impact of energy poverty for developing countries, including the most vulnerable, in line with their national circumstances and priorities.

To that end, we express our will to tackle the energy access challenge by identifying the specific needs of each country, by mobilizing technical, financial assistance and tools to deploy sustainable energy solutions to tackle the energy access deficit.

In the pursuit of eradicating energy poverty, it's essential we focus on enabling resilient energy systems underpinned by pragmatism and technology-neutrality.

Building on this, we identify the need to urgently and significantly scale up finance and investment in energy, including investments in clean technologies, including zero- and low-emission technologies and renewable energy quality infrastructure, and increase energy efficiency, as well as capacity-building and the transfer of technology to developing countries, through concessional and preferential terms. In that regard we call upon countries, public and private financial institutions and other stakeholders to scale up the provision of finance for developing countries.

Furthermore, we consider that in this discussion it is important to reaffirm the sovereign rights of countries over their energy resources and their right to define appropriate policies for the production and use of energy, and recognizing that the 2030 Agenda shall be implemented for the full benefit of all, for today's generation and for future generations.

We also reiterate the call upon States to refrain from promulgating and applying unilateral economic, financial or trade measures that are not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impede the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries. Such measures hinder access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy, disrupt supply flows and undermine collective efforts towards sustainable development and resilience-building.

We hope that the outcomes of this dialogue will contribute to an insightful reflection that can guide all countries, particularly developing ones, to build a more resilient global energy system.

Thank you.