Pope tells leaders at UN time to act

• Censures “boundless thirst” for wealth and power
• Pushes for climate change action, assistance for refugees and end to nuclear proliferation 
• President Sirisena to adopt post-2015 SDGs till 2030 with 193 members 

President Maithripala Sirisena with Sri Lankan delegation at the opening session of 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York at the UN yesterday 

- Pic by Sudath Silva (President’s Media Unit)

Pope Francis addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, 25 September 2015. More than 150 world leaders are expected to attend the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit from 25-27 September at the United Nations in New York to formally adopt an ambitious new sustainable development agenda a press statement by the UN stated - Reuters

By Uditha Jayasinghe in New York 

Ahead of UN members, including Sri Lanka, adopting the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Pope Francis gave a tough message to world leaders calling on them to exercise political will to achieve pledges and attacking “boundless thirst” for wealth and power. 

The Pontiff, on his first visit to the US, dwelt extensively on the environment, nuclear disarmament, the refugee crisis and aggravating poverty in his wide-ranging speech. He also called on the 193 member states that are adopting the 17 SDGs along with an ambitious list of 169 sub-goals that will guide development priorities globally for the next 15 years, to go beyond ratifying documents.   

“The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the World Summit, which opens today, is an important sign of hope. Solemn commitments, however, are not enough even though they are a necessary step toward solutions. Our world demands of all Government leaders a will which is effective, practical and constant, concrete steps and immediate measures for preserving and improving the natural environment,” he told members in Spanish. 

The Pope called for the speedy ending of social and economic exclusion, with its baneful consequences: human trafficking, the marketing of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of boys and girls, slave labour, including prostitution, the drug and weapons trade, terrorism and international organised crime. 

“Such is the magnitude of these situations and their toll in innocent lives, that we must avoid every temptation to fall into a ‘declarationist nominalism’ which would assuage our consciences. We need to ensure that all our institutions are truly effective in the struggle against all these scourges,” he added. 

Once ratified by UN members the SDGs, replace the Millennium Development Goals, which were adopted in 2000 and expire this year. The MDGs dealt primarily with poverty, education and health in the poorest countries. The SDGs hit all of those topics but also tackle global inequality, environmental issues and access to technology.

The new goals also specifically address stronger calls for empowerment of women. President Maithripala Sirisena in addition to adopting the SDGs during his attendance at the UN is also expected to make a pledge to increasing resources towards gender empowerment in Sri Lanka on Sunday.   

Francis, 78, called on government leaders to fight human trafficking, boost education for girls and end the destruction of biodiversity which he warned is threatening the “very existence of the human species”.

“A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged,” 

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics condemned the “grave offense” of economic and social exclusion.  

Later on Friday, the Pope is to lead an inter-religious prayer service at the site of the 11 September 2001, hijacked plane attacks by Islamist militants that brought down the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people. 

His three-city tour of the US has attracted much more attention from the public than the visit of Chinese President Xi Jingping whose overlapping stay includes talks with President Obama and attending the UN sessions.