The outcomes of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), despite what its name might suggest, are not intended to be political. The 2030 Agenda is a voluntary commitment by UN Member States to collaborate for sustainable development and so is the Ministerial Declaration adopted at the end of each HLPF session. What is seen as political, however, lies in the eyes of the beholder.
One issue that turned out to be political at this year’s HLPF is the UAE Consensus, a landmark agreement on fossil fuels named after the host country of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai in 2024. Adopted with unanimous support, it calls on countries to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner, with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The link to Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7, clean and affordable energy) is obvious, so few delegates were surprised to see a reference to the UAE Consensus in the section on measures to accelerate SDG 7 implementation.
During the closing session, the Group of 77 and China introduced an amendment to remove the reference, noting that the HLPF should not mention specific UNFCCC initiatives. The amendment was accepted by vote, following which the EU, UAE, and Brazil expressed their full continued commitment to the UAE Consensus.
Another political issue that was prominent in the general debate is the role of conflict and its impact on sustainable development, either directly through harm to humans and damage to infrastructure and ecosystems, or indirectly through market distortions like the recent spike in fuel prices caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormoz.
