Pedro Sánchez pledges to continue joining forces and seeking courageous and creative solutions to create a better, more inclusive and just world

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

During his speech at the 'State of the World' plenary session, which was opened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Pedro Sánchez reaffirmed that, as the pandemic has shown, we can only overcome global challenges if we work together.

At the meeting, under the theme 'The World We Want', collective and individual strategies to achieve sustainability were explored, and the resources and tools needed to accelerate business progress were addressed.

The President of the Government recalled that the development of vaccines against COVID-19 in record time was made possible "thanks to our ability to establish public-private partnerships", something which, as he pointed out, also applies to economic recovery and to accelerating the green and digital transitions of societies. In this regard, the Government of Spain has placed public-private partnerships at the heart of plans to transform the economy and improve living conditions for all.

On joining, the nearly 19,000 companies from 170 countries that make up this forum take on 10 commitments in terms of sustainability and human development, aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. Spain is the country with the highest number of member companies, with 2,173. Of these, 21% are large companies, 61% are SMEs and 18% are other entities.

Sánchez recalled that the world is now facing the economic and social consequences of Putin's war in Ukraine, including the threat of a food crisis, with almost a fifth of humanity, around 1.7 billion people, at risk of poverty and hunger. In this regard, the President expressed his confidence that public-private alliances will enable sustainable and lasting solutions to be found to the food shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine, while reaffirming the commitment of the Spanish business community, which is the one with the most companies in the world adhering to the Global Compact decalogue, at almost 2,200.

The President of the Government of Spain concluded his speech by stressing the need to "continue to join forces and seek courageous and creative solutions to create a better, more sustainable, inclusive and just world".

Non official translation