UN Assembly President announces launch of first-ever ‘Sustainability Week’

The President of the General Assembly on Tuesday announced the UN body's inaugural Sustainability Week, encapsulating a series of high-level discussions and initiatives aimed at propelling the implementation of sustainable practices and to address pressing challenges. To be held from 15 to 19 April, President Dennis Francis' flagship initiative converges various mandated events into a singular, impactful week, elevating the discourse on such critical sectors as tourism, infrastructure, energy and transport. "The Sustainability Week initiative is essentially designed to galvanise momentum around sustainability in a way that helps to supercharge implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Mr. Francis told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York. He added that high-level participation is anticipated from Heads of States and Governments, sector-specific ministers and key UN officials. ## Sustainability Week highlights * **15 April** : High-level thematic debate on _debt sustainability and socioeconomic equality_, highlighting the impact of surging debt on countries' development trajectories * **16 April** : High-level thematic event on _tourism_, addressing unsustainable practices within the industry and launching a statistical framework for measuring sustainability * **17 April** : High-level meeting on _sustainable transport_, emphasising its importance in achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) * **18 April** : Informal dialogue on building _global resilience and promoting sustainable development_ through infrastructure connectivity * **19 April** : _Global stock taking on sustainable energy_, reflecting on progress and shortcomings over the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All 2014-2024 and launching a call to action to accelerate implementation of SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy Assembly President Dennis Francis briefing reporters on the inaugural Sustainability Week. ## Beyond the 2030 Agenda Assembly President Francis also highlighted initiatives beyond the 2030 Agenda, including the Choose Sustainability campaign, which encourages stakeholders to adopt pledges and sustainability practices. "I encourage all permanent missions, stakeholders and the media to adopt pledges to promote sustainability and to declare their support on social media while adopting sustainability practices," he said. For its part, his office is, among other things, working to phase out the use of roll-up banners throughout the General Assembly and to replace them with long-lasting, energy-efficient LED screens.

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