Distinguished Co-Facilitators,

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

At the outset, the Group congratulates you Excellencies on your appointment as Co-Facilitators of the process to develop the Ministerial Declaration of the 2026 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and assures you of our constructive engagement.

The Group recommends that this year's ministerial declaration should follow the same format from previous years. Moreover, the G77 expects that the negotiation process will uphold the precedent of last two years and that there will be no backtracking. Hence, we look forward to engaging in line-by-line text-based negotiations, which will ensure a truly intergovernmental, transparent, open, and inclusive process. We must also avoid overlap with other ongoing processes. The zero draft needs to be balanced to form a basis for the intergovernmental consultations.

On substance, Distinguished Co-Facilitators, the Group reemphasises that the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and must be at the centre of our work. We also reemphasise that our work must be guided by all the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

As we prepare to convene the 2026 HLPF under the theme "Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for a sustainable future for all," and to review Goals 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17, we note with deep concern that progress remains uneven and far off track. With only four years remaining until 2030, urgent and scaled-up action is imperative.

Developing countries continue to face persistent structural challenges, including widening financing gaps, unsustainable debt burdens, the adverse impacts of climate change, food and energy insecurity, supply chain disruptions and constrained fiscal space, compounded by growing geopolitical tensions and a difficult global economic environment, including a UN that is in extreme austerity and liquidity crisis.

In this context, the means of implementation are central. Without enhanced international cooperation and the fulfilment of commitments, the Goals will remain beyond reach for the vast majority of developing countries. We must now move beyond reaffirming the importance of the Goals, as we did so in 2015 and that's why they are Goals, but to move our focus on how to accelerate implementation: by prioritizing those furthest behind, by a leapfrog method; safeguarding hard-won development gains; and promoting the sharing of best practices through peer learning, recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
The Group underscores that sustainable development cannot be achieved in a context of unilateralism and coercive measures. Unilateral coercive measures contrary to international law and the Charter of the United Nations undermine the ability of developing countries to achieve the SDGs.

The group also stresses the need to address the severe difficulties faced by countries and peoples living under colonial and foreign occupation and strive to remove the obstacles to the full realization of their right to self-determination and right to development, which adversely affect their economic and social development. We must also reaffirm, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the need to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of States.

Coming to the goals under review, we stress that:

On Goal 6, access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation is fundamental to sustainable development, poverty eradication and public health. We call for strengthened international cooperation, increased public and concessional financing, climate-resilient water infrastructure and enhanced capacity-building for all developing countries. We also reiterate the need to strengthen efforts to address water scarcity and build resilience to drought to achieve a world in which water is a sustainable resource and ensure the availability and sustainable management of clean and safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all. Moreover, we stress the importance of implementing integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.

On Goal 7, while some progress has been made in some regions of the world, efforts to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all remain well below the scale required to meet the Goal by 2030. Close to 666 million people remain without access to electricity, globally - of which 90% are in Africa, and over 2.1 billion people remain without access to clean cooking as of 2023. Therefore, meeting the goal by 2030 requires renewed commitment, and the use of all available technological solutions and approaches, including through transfer of technology; increasing energy investment and predictable, adequate and accessible finance for developing countries, including grant-based and concessional financing; and capacity building in developing countries. Energy transitions must be just, orderly and equitable, reflecting national circumstances and in line with the national development priorities of developing countries. We believe in cooperation and incentives, rather than in conditionalities, and do not support the use of unilateral trade or protectionist measures.

On Goal 9, industrialization is critical for structural transformation, economic diversification and job creation. Progress remains uneven and many developing countries continue to face structural constraints that limit their participation in global manufacturing and value chains. We need to accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrialization through strengthening support for productive capacities, small and medium-sized enterprises, and improved access to affordable finance for small-scale industries. Scaled-up support is needed to build sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including digital infrastructure. Bridging the digital divide requires enhanced access to science, technology and innovation, meaningful technology transfer on concessional and preferential terms, and supportive intellectual property frameworks that do not hinder access to critical technologies.

On Goal 11, rapid urbanization presents significant challenges. Sustainable and inclusive urban development is needed to empower safe and resilient communities. A whole of planet, and a whole of society, approach must be mainstreamed for the strategic planning of cities, to ensure affordable housing, sustainable transport, disaster risk reduction and climate-resilient urban infrastructure, especially for the most vulnerable. International cooperation, capacity building, and adaptation finance must be significantly scaled, with urban development plans integrated into sustainable development strategies, at all levels.

Goal 17 remains the cornerstone of the 2030 Agenda. We express grave concern that commitments on finance, debt, trade, technology transfer and systemic reform remain largely unmet. The risk of a sovereign debt crisis constitutes a major impediment to SDG implementation. We reiterate the need for comprehensive reform of the international debt architecture, including a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring under the United Nations, as well as expanded debt relief. Liquidity challenges, including through the rechanneling of Special Drawing Rights, must be addressed without burdensome conditionalities.

We further call for comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture to make it more inclusive, representative and responsive to developing countries, including governance reform of international financial institutions. Official development assistance commitments, including the 0.7 per cent target, must be fulfilled and not double-counted. Climate finance must be delivered in line with existing obligations, and the new collective quantified goal must not limit development partners from demonstrating greater ambition on climate finance commitments, in addition to their ODA obligations in order to meet developing countries' needs and be primarily grant-based. South-South cooperation complements, but does not substitute for, North-South cooperation. Trade must remain a universal, rules-based, transparent and non-discriminatory engine for development.

In conclusion, facilitators, the Ministerial Declaration must be action-oriented, succinct with emphasis on the gaps in the implementations of the SDGs, development-focused and reflective of the priorities of developing countries. It must restore confidence in multilateralism and demonstrate renewed political will to deliver on longstanding commitments.

The Group of 77 and China stands ready to engage constructively to ensure an ambitious, balanced and development-oriented outcome that advances sustainable development for all.

I thank you.