Mr. President,

I have the honour to deliver this explanation of position on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, the Group regrets that this Political Declaration was put to a vote.

Throughout the process, the Group engaged actively, constructively and in good faith, with a clear preference for a consensual outcome, and acknowledges the efforts of the co-facilitators to steer a complex negotiation and accommodate, to the extent possible, the concerns and priorities expressed by delegations. We therefore regret that consensus could not be preserved at the point of adoption.

Mr. President,

The Group of 77 and China decided not to break the second silence procedure and to join consensus, and therefore voted in favour of the final text, as, taken as a whole, it represented an acceptable and carefully balanced outcome, particularly in light of the difficult negotiating context.

For the Group, it was especially important that the final text preserve key elements of relevance to developing countries. Among them, we note in particular the explicit reaffirmation of the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities; the preservation of language on the particular challenges faced by developing countries and countries in special situations; the retention of references of importance to many developing countries in the area of unilateral measures; and the inclusion of meaningful language on means of implementation, particularly for developing countries, including financing, capacity-building, technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, and strengthened international cooperation.

The Group also took into account that, while not every element of the final text fully reflected its preferred formulations, the third revised text accommodated a number of the Group's substantive concerns and, on balance, provided a basis on which the Group could support adoption in a spirit of compromise.

Mr. President,

The Group hopes that this unfortunate recourse to a vote will not detract from the political value of the Declaration, nor from the importance of the High-Level Meeting itself. Our attention must now turn to implementation. The commitments contained in this Declaration must translate into concrete support for developing countries, including adequate means of implementation, strengthened international cooperation, and renewed political commitment to the New Urban Agenda.

I thank you.