I would like to thank Spain and the United Nations for their invitation and, above all, for launching the Seville Platform for Action.
As of today, we need USD 4 billion a year to close the funding gap. Without this, we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition, uncontrolled debt is resulting in an impossible dilemma for more and more governments. 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on servicing debt than on education or health. This is unacceptable.
With the Seville Commitment, we have established the way forward. Now is the time to follow that path. And the Seville Platform for Action is the starting point. With it, we must unleash the full potential of the commitments made, and facilitate new alliances between governments, financial institutions, the private sector and civil society.
As I said this morning, the European Union and its Member States will rise to the occasion. We will not give up. We will not stop fighting for human dignity and for the planet.
Together, in 2023, we contributed 42% of global development aid, a total of EUR 95 900 million.
It is estimated that more than USD 300 000 million in debt has been restructured by the countries of the European Union in the Paris Club. And by 2027, we will mobilise up to EUR 300 000 million through our Global Gateway initiative for sustainable, inclusive and place-based investments.
In fact, by 2023, we had already mobilised up to EUR 179 000 million with the Global Gateway. In this context, we will support various initiatives of the Seville Platform for Action, from the ‘Declaration on Domestic Resource Mobilisation’ to the ‘Renewed Global Health Ecosystem’.
No one can face this challenge alone. It is not the task of just one, nor of a few. It requires the collective strength of courageous and committed partnerships. The European Union is ready to give its best, shoulder with shoulder with each of you. So, let’s get to work!
We know that this is a formidable challenge and there lies a very long road ahead. But we are in Seville, the starting point of the first navigation around the world, the first circumnavigation by Magellan. And if Magellan achieved that, all those centuries ago, why should we not set out to achieve this now, this century, because we don’t have much time.
Thank you very much.
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