Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^* and Georgia, as well as Monaco, align themselves with this statement.

At the outset, we would like to thank the G77+China for presenting the draft resolution “Promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, building on Agenda 21”. We would also like to thank all Delegations for their constructive approach, the Co-facilitators Manuela Rios from Colombia and Ivaylo Gatev from Bulgaria for their help in guiding our discussions, and the Secretariat for its support.

The European Union and its Member States stand firmly behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which guide our actions both internally and externally. With this resolution, an important topic to achieve our common goals is addressed: Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns.

Throughout the negotiations, the EU engaged openly and constructively. We are pleased that several outstanding issues, recent developments and upcoming processes are properly addressed in the resolution, including on biodiversity, the ocean, water, plastics and circular economy. Additionally, we are pleased to see that a common understanding is reflected in this resolution on the importance of addressing pollution, including through references to the science-policy panel on chemicals and waste and the Global Framework of Chemicals.

We regret, however, that our proposal for a high-level dialogue on pollution was rejected, despite the fact that many delegations recognized the importance of this issue. We firmly believe that it is important to address this issue in New York, and we intend to resume this discussion at the 80^th session. We also regret that the Paris Agreement is still inaccurately referenced, as it is a legal agreement in its own right and listed in the United Nations Treaty Series. As next year we will celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement, it is essential that we properly recognize its legal integrity in order to fully implement it.

Mr. Chair,

The European Union and its Member States welcome the adoption by consensus of the resolution.

In conclusion, we remain committed to achieve our common goals and to accelerate implementation of the SDGs.

I thank you.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.