The Federation Council Speaker delivered a speech at the first plenary session of the G20 Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi dedicated to sustainable development.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko took part in the discussion at The Agenda 2030 for SDGs: Showcasing Achievements, Accelerating Progress plenary session at the Ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in India.
She noted that cooperation between G20 countries played an important role in determining the course the world takes. According to the Federation Council Speaker, this is especially noticeable now, when there are still serious obstacles to the growth and stability of the world economy. She believes issues such as ensuring food and energy security, climate conservation, the need for reform of international financial institutions, and digital transformation are the most significant.
“We believe that it is only through joint efforts that we can make a significant contribution to the democratisation of international financial and trade institutions, eliminate gaps in the industrial, scientific and technical spheres, and give additional impetus to the implementation of sustainable development goals,” Valentina Matvienko said.
The Federation Council Speaker highlighted that the Russian Federation had integrated measures to achieve each of the 17 goals outlined by the UN into its national projects as well as its strategic and programme documents: “A step-by-step plan has been developed to achieve them with a planning horizon to 2030.”
Valentina Matvienko also noted the sustainable development goals, within which Russia could share its experience with partners, such as improving water bodies and providing clean water to the country’s residents, as well as eliminating environmental damage accumulated over many years.
According to the Federation Council Speaker, Russia is one of the few countries that has exceeded its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
“Moreover, we are voluntarily setting ourselves increasingly ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was thanks to Russia that 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent were kept out of the atmosphere, while global emissions increased 2.5 times.”
The Federation Council Speaker stressed that the difficulties and contradictions of the current global situation had not stopped Russia from seeking to address environmental and climatic tasks and search for new ways to lower the impact on the planet’s climate. At the same time, according to Valentina Matvienko, the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the unilateral illegal sanctions policy of a number of countries, had seriously slowed down progress in the implementation of the entire 2030 Agenda and caused significant damage to the global economy.
The Federation Council Speaker believes that new measures are now required to intensify coordinated actions to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, and here it is impossible to do without the active role of parliamentarians.
“Connecting the legislative branch to multilateral cooperation in the interests of development is a key factor in achieving global goals in the socioeconomic, environmental and humanitarian spheres,” the Federation Council speaker emphasised.
In this context, Valentina Matvienko announced Russia’s support for the idea of strengthening the role of parliamentarians in implementing the Sustainable Development Agenda until 2030.
Also taking part in the session on sustainable development within the G20 parliamentary forum were First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev and State Duma deputies.