Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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456. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the Government's position on, and aims for, the United Nation's Special Summit on Sustainable Development, in New York, United States of America, in September 2015; if he will report on the preparations being made by his Department, in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10355/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Ireland is currently co-facilitating the negotiations at the United Nations to agree a framework for international development to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after 2015. It is hoped that the new development agenda will be adopted at the Summit planned for New York in September. At the heart of this new global sustainable development framework will be a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will complete the work of the MDGs in eradicating extreme poverty but which will put sustainable development at the core. The objective is that the SDGs will be universal in nature and address development challenges through social, environmental and economic actions in low, middle and high-income countries alike. They will address a wide range of areas including food and nutrition, water and sanitation, climate and biodiversity, production and consumption, trade and global governance structures, peace and governance, employment and economic growth, urbanisation and energy.

Ireland’s key priorities for the post-2015 Development Agenda have been the fight to end hunger and under-nutrition, the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, and good governance and rule of law. These priorities are drawn from Ireland’s Policy for International Development ‘One World, One Future’ and the priorities set out following the Foreign Policy Review, in ‘The Global Island’, which I launched, with the Taoiseach, in January. We have advocated for strong goals and targets in each of these key areas, and we have emphasised the need to incorporate human rights in the new development framework, reduce global inequality and protect the role of civil society.

Ireland’s positions in the UN negotiations are agreed through a whole-of-Government coordination process. My Department, together with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government is co-chairing a dedicated inter-departmental coordination mechanism comprising all relevant Government Departments, to ensure a comprehensive Irish position. We are also engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society.

We are working with our colleagues in the EU to ensure that the process will culminate in a successful outcome in September and that the new SDGs, which will have a profound impact on the lives of the world’s poor, will reflect our priorities and galvanise action to end extreme poverty and hunger by 2030.

This year will also see a global agreement on how to finance the new SDGs at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development which will take place in Addis Ababa from the 13-16 July. In addition a new agreement is being negotiated under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is expected to be adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris in December. We believe that ensuring that these processes are coherent and mutually supportive is critical if we are to achieve a truly transformative agenda for sustainable development.