A Decent Life for All: Ending Poverty and Giving the World a Sustainable Future

Belgium - 28 Feb 13

As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) come to an end in 2015 and the Rio+20 conference launched the process for the formulation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the European Commission acknowledges that both challenges must be tackled together through a joined up approach.

The MDGs have been a powerful tool to mobilise the world around the fight against poverty. Today, tackling poverty remains a top priority as well as other global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, environmental degradation and social inequalities. The two challenges of eradicating poverty and ensuring a sustainable development are interlinked and the Communication "A Decent Life for All: Ending Poverty and Giving the World a Sustainable Future", presented today by the European Commission, proposes a global framework to address both issues, with a view to achieve an EU common position to feed the debate at the UN and worldwide.

European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, said: "Eradicating extreme poverty across the globe in a single generation is within reach. It is not a question of resources, but rather of having the political will and the right framework. The next two years will be critical for the international community to prove the ambition is there. The EU is determined to play a decisive role and today’s proposal is a first step in this direction."

European Commissioner for Environment Janez Potočnik said: "Efforts to end poverty have to go hand-in-hand with sustainable development. Otherwise we will simply not be successful. This is why today's Communication proposes a single, coherent framework to offer a decent life for all by 2030."

The framework should include a limited set of goals, clear and inspiring, addressing not only quantitative targets, but also qualitative ones such as standards in education, nutrition, access to clean water and air. These goals should establish a floor under which no man, woman or child should fall by 2030, in order to provide a Decent Life for All. The framework should address crucial elements such as the basic human living standards, the drivers for an inclusive andsustainable growth, the sustainable management of natural resources, the issues of equity, equality and justice, and peace and security. It should apply to all countries, and be relevant to every citizen on the planet, and should ensure an effective partnership between countries, the civil society and the private sector at national and international level.

For more information:
Full text of the Communication

Source:
European Commission - Press release