PM Mottley chosen to chair SDG advocacy group

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has been given yet another global leadership role, this time to help push the world’s leaders to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Barbadian leader and her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau were named co-chairs of the SDG Advocates Group, a group of influential leaders – including Nigerian, Belgian and Qatari royalty, activists, and actors – who support United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in raising global ambition and action to keep the promise of the SDGs.

“The Sustainable Development Goals are the world’s blueprint to build a healthier, greener and sustainable future by 2030. With the clock ticking and multiple crises driving us further off track, we must do everything in our power to deliver the SDGs,” Guterres said in making the announcement on Wednesday. “I’m pleased that Prime Minister Mottley and Prime Minister Trudeau will help lead advocacy to do just that.”

Mottley, who has campaigned extensively for climate action and debt sustainability in middle-income countries and small states, encouraged leaders to move full steam ahead in working towards reaching the SDGs.

“Let us seize the moment to move forward, together, to ensure the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the end of the Decade of Action and Delivery on the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Mottley who was given the Champions of the Earth Award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, in 2021.

Trudeau said he looked forward to working with Mottley to rally countries, governments, the private sector, and others, “to come together to accelerate our progress and continue to raise our voices – and our ambition – on the path to 2030”.

Previous co-chairs, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo of Ghana and former Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, have led the group since 2016 and 2014, respectively.

The UN said the two, who Guterres thanked for putting the SDGs on the global political agenda, will continue to stay engaged as co-chairs of the SDG Advocates Emeritus Group, a group of alumni Advocates who continue to support the achievement of the SDGs.

The other member of the SDG Advocate Group are: Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of the Belgians; His Royal Highness Muhammadu Sanusi II, 14th Emir of Kano; Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar; BLACKPINK, K-pop Girl Group; Richard Curtis, Screenwriter, Producer and Film Director; Hindou Ibrahim, Activist for Climate Action and Indigenous Rights; Graça Machel, Founder and Chair of the Board, Graça Machel Trust; Dia Mirza, Actor, UN Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador; Valentina Muñoz Rabanal, STEM Activist; Edward Ndopu, Public Intellectual, Humanitarian and Founder of A BILLION REASONS; Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute at Colombia University; Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate, Founder of Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation; Brad Smith, President, Microsoft Corporation; and Forest Whitaker, Founder and CEO, Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation. (DP)