Statement by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, at the SDG Advocates Group Meeting: Dialogue on Financing for Development with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottely, and the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ

P.- Prime Minister Sánchez, what do we need financially to make the Sustainable Development Goals more effective and achievable in the years that remain before 2030? And they're not many, so…

Presidente.- Of course, we need that political will Mia said. And I think that Sevilla was a very important step to move forward in this direction. In Sevilla, we launched 130 commitments, specific actions, and so far, we've tracked progress on more or less about 100 of these actions.

So, for instance, this initiative of the Debt Pause Clause Alliance; of course, the debt swap for financing development, and, of course, the Sevilla Club for Action in order to meet and to try to create synergies with other countries.

And I think that the other item that I would like to highlight is the need, the clear need, and especially today, that we listen to different speeches talking about the opposite, I think it's very important to keep the idea that we need to cooperate more internationally when we tax corporations, tax super rich people. I think that these are the ideas that we agreed upon in Sevilla, and these are the commitments that we need to deliver if we want to have these resources in order to reach the SDG goals.

P.- Prime Minister Sánchez, looking back at Sevilla, what's the one lesson that should change how we approach financing next? Especially with military spending rising and geopolitical tensions deepening, what needs to change about how we finance the SDGs?

Presidente.- Well… [inaudible] political priorities. I mean, I think that precisely in Western societies and in Western countries and governments. I come from a country, Spain, that belongs to the European Union, and of course, we have the threat of Russia and the war in Ukraine. But of course, you know, we are against not only that illegal war, but the war in Iran. And of course, what is going on in Gaza, in Palestine.

So I think that, first of all, we need to change our political priorities in Western societies. And for that we need, you know, governments more engaged on global issues, but also societies that understand that geopolitics also affects directly to, you know, lives. And then, you know, I feel and, this is my biggest concern that more and more, since we have this rearming rhetoric, we are forgetting to be engaged on global matters that affect us also. When it comes to, for instance, migration, we need also to cooperate with countries of origin and transit, but not only regarding migration but economic development of these countries.

So I can give a lot of examples, but I would say that the biggest lesson that to me was Sevilla it was a light to change political priorities, especially when it comes to Western societies and Western and Western governments.

P.- So from the French Revolution to this question, Prime Minister, and I'm going to allow you to end with a flourish. We've got 55 seconds left.

As we get closer to 2030, should our focus be solely -and it's an interesting question- should it be solely on accelerating delivery towards that deadline on today's agenda, or is it time to start preparing for what comes next?

Presidente.- Oh no. I think that we have to deliver. Four years in politics is a universe. So we need to, you know, we need to focus. And, of course, the causes of fighting against inequality, gender equality, green transition, climate change, these are causes that will go beyond 2030.

But to me, I will echo what Mia said, I think it's very important to know that this is a political battle, not an ideological one, but a political one.

Because, you know, many times we find people, you know, political representatives that say, oh, this agenda 2030 is for the global elite.

And, precisely, it's the contrary. This is the agenda for ordinary people.

And I think that, you know, with concrete examples and with concrete policies, we have to fight against this narrative.

And, by the way, this agenda 2030 is not only for, you know, countries less developed, but also in Western societies we moved the agenda 2030 domestically.

And this is something that we need to also expand this message to create this partnership with the academia, with business people, with trade unions, with civil society, in order to expand the message within Western societies that the agenda 2030 is for the good of the ordinary people also from those societies.

P.- I've been given an extra two minutes to talk about AI, so maybe we'll go down down the panel.

Prime Minister, you want to start?

Presidente.- I will answer with a question. In 20th century, we wouldn't allow a private private company to own a nuclear arsenal.

Are we going to do that in the 21st century with the tool AI?

This intelligence and its implications, not only economically, but social and security implications for all of humanity. That is the big question that we need to answer.

P.- So if it was a car, we need a seatbelt.

Presidente.- No, we need regulation. Joseph Stiglitz made a very good point in his last article in the Financial Times.

He said, we need an agenda for AI, which means competition, regulation and redistribution. And I agree with that.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)