Statement: Informal consultations on the draft ministerial declaration for HLPF

Statement delivered by Ms. Gudrun Thorbjornsdottir
Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Iceland to the United Nations 
Informal consultations on the draft ministerial declaration for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
6 March, 2025

Excellencies, 

Let me use this opportunity to congratulate the co-facilitators on your appointment and assure you of Iceland’s undivided support and confidence in your leadership. 

Likewise, we thank you for sharing your thoughts about the process, as outlined in your letter dated 25 February. 

We welcome the vision to present a Declaration that builds upon our collective past accomplishments, with reference to the 80th Anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter, the 2030 Agenda, and the theme of the 2025 ECOSOC and HLPF.

Co-facilitators, 

At this first informal meeting Iceland would like to emphasise two SDGs in particular:   

Firstly, SDG5 

There is an urgent need for more resolute action for this goal, as ensuring gender equality helps us reach and maintain other SDGs goals. 

Gender equality is intrinsically linked to sustainable development and is vital to the realization of human rights for all – an aim wholly unreachable if women and girls are left out of the equation. 

Moreover, gender equality is not only the smart thing to do because of its profound positive effect on society and the economy – it is a moral imperative.

We note the findings of the 2024 SDG report, in particular that there are still far too many women that lack bodily autonomy and are not in a position to make their own decisions regarding sexual and reproductive health. Violence against women remains a major issue which we are failing to address effectively. And both inside and outside the home women continue to carry an unfair burden of unpaid domestic and care work.

For a forward-looking declaration, Iceland would like to see certain priority actions outlined that are necessary to progress on this SDG, such as: eliminating harmful practices, changing biased social norms, abolishing discriminatory laws, ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and recognizing unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies.

Secondly, SDG14

Iceland attaches vital importance to life below water and prioritises its actions. 

We note that last year marked the 30th anniversary of the entry into force of UNCLOS, our constitution for the ocean, and recall the recent adoption of the BBNJ Agreement in 2023. 

Redoubling of our commitments to UNCLOS and the ratification and implementation of the BBNJ Agreement will provide us with necessary tools to achieve our common objectives.

SDG target 14.4 is a key policy priority for Iceland - we will work with others for the effective regulating of harvesting of marine resources and an end to overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and other destructive fishing practices. The implementation of science-based management plans is key.

However, this target is unreachable if other threats to our oceans go unchecked. Ocean-acidification, ocean-warming, plastic pollution, and higher sea levels – are just some of the issues our oceans face today. Without clean and resilient oceans, the sustainable use of the oceans and their resources is impossible. Moreover, to mitigate climate change we need healthy and stable oceans. 

Iceland will continue to advocate for the highly underfunded SDG14. Healthy oceans and aquatic blue foods have enormous potential to contribute to food security, economic wellbeing and combatting climate change. A call for action and global commitment to SDG14 is of the greatest importance.

To conclude,

We look forward to a constructive engagement with you and all the member states in the process ahead.   

I thank you.