It is time to adapt national development strategies to the new commitments under the Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in September 2015. This is what Head of State Rosen Plevneliev called on for in the UN headquarters in New York, in a statement he made at the High Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Bulgaria has already started work on the mechanism for implementing the 2030 agenda by starting the debate on the Bulgaria 2030 National Development Program,” President Plevneliev said. “Our aim is to develop a green and energy-efficient economy which will preserve the environment and guarantee sustainable economic growth for all people,” the Head of State said.
The progress in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals will depend on three steps, the Bulgarian President highlighted - national-level actions, support for the most vulnerable countries and a stronger UN.
“The national level actions are not enough. If we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we should pay more attention to the most vulnerable. The official development assistance should focus on the people’s abilities to make decisions and be more self-confident and Bulgaria actively participates in the EU’s and the international community’s supportive efforts,” the Head of State said in his address. However, the President warned that this process should take into account environmental issues. Rosen Plevneliev also highlighted the Green Climate Fund, to which Bulgaria has been contributing since 2015, as a good collective action instrument.
The third important step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in the Head of State’s opinion, is “building a stronger and more coherent, more transparent and more effective UN development system.”
“While working on our new and sustainable development model, we should, however, remember who the ultimate addressees of the Sustainable Development Goals are: the children!” President Rosen Plevneliev further said. The Head of State recalled that the Council of Europe Sofia Strategy for the Rights of the Child was adopted in April 2016, within the framework of the Bulgarian Chairmanship-in-office of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
“The approach we should adopt is an environmentally responsible one, we should act with responsibility and should change our approach, if we want to achieve the 2030 goals and to leave to the future generations a “green” and prospering planet,” President Rosen Plevneliev further said.