UN General Assembly
2016

“We are the first generation that can end poverty and the last that can end climate change.” We agree and salute him for the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement, which, if implemented effectively, will help end poverty and climate change, respectively. Our resolve to leave no one behind should be about those who need help and about those who can offer help. Addressing climate change and achieving the 2030 Agenda requires political will, resolve, commitment of resources and goodwill. There is no room for political barriers. I am reminded of what the Secretary-General said in his statement at the opening of the seventy- first session of the General Assembly. On the topic of barriers, he said, “Far too often, I have seen widely supported proposals blocked ... by a few or sometimes even just one country ... Time and again, I have seen essential action and good ideas blocked ...