UN General Assembly
2008

on commitments is a source of embarrassment to us as leaders. We are confronted by an endemic crisis of development, including the failure of development policies and approaches that do not take into account the specific situation of countries and regions. This has resulted in growing inequities within and across countries, an environmental and climate change crisis with unsustainable pressures on production and ecosystems, a global economic and financial crisis spreading from the major economies, a crisis of confidence in global governance and institutional capacity for managing international trade, finance and development policies, a worsening energy crisis, an unprecedented food crisis, and a looming water crisis. We recognize that each country has the primary responsibility for its development. However, the international community must create a conducive, sustainable, fair and predictable environment and provide the necessary policy space to stimulate and facilitate the discharge of this responsibility. We must all move immediately into implementation mode — a mode where our focus is on how to do rather than how not to do. We have some