UN General Assembly kicks off annual high-level debate

UNITED NATIONS -- The 71st session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday opened its annual high-level General Debate at the UN headquarters in New York, with a focus on pushing for global sustainable development.

Over 140 world leaders gathered in New York to attend the week-long debate. "The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Universal Push to Transform our World" is this year's theme.

President of General Assembly Peter Thomson said he is committed to pushing for the implementation of the global goals to end poverty, inequality and combat climate change.

The SDGs are outlined in a UN-facilitated 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which was adopted one year ago by world leaders at the United Nations.

"Greater public resources must be dedicated to achieving the SDGs, either directly through domestic finance, or through official development assistance such as climate finance," said Thomson.

"We need to create better regulatory environments, and to require the international financial system to ensure finance is increasingly focused on productive, green and socially responsible investment," he noted.

"We must support greater access for poor and marginalized communities and countries to science, technology and innovation, to trade opportunities, and to more sustainable debt solutions," he added.