PRIME Minister Andrew Holness on Saturday told world leaders that Jamaica stands ready to deliver on its obligation to protect the interests of future generations and has already laid the foundation to achieve that goal, even as the country, like other developing states, faces a number of challenges, among them climate change and economic stability.

Holness was addressing the United Nations Summit of the Future held at UN headquarters in New York.

The September 20-23 summit brings together global leaders to forge a new international consensus on how to account for the interests of future generations in national and global decision-making, and to consolidate these efforts in a ‘Declaration on Future Generations’.

Holness said that Jamaica is proud to have co-facilitated the intergovernmental process for the declaration, and expressed appreciation to co-facilitator, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, “for their excellent collaboration during the challenging process”.

He said the inclusivity of the summit and its preceding action days, as well as the preparatory processes, “is truly symbolic of the approach that is required to preserve a robust and effective multilateral system with the United Nations at its core”.

“It is clear that member states and the UN system cannot chart this path alone. We must leverage the knowledge, expertise, and vigour of civil society, youth, academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders, to deliver a better future for this planet and for all its peoples,” the prime minister said.

He said that with the adoption of the declaration on Sunday, world leaders will now be able to celebrate a universal realisation that, “even as we address the challenges of today, we have an obligation to protect the interests of future generations and ensure that they will inherit a planet in which they can thrive”.

The task now, he said, is for the leaders to translate that enthusiasm into action by giving life to the declaration, which he described as “the first bold step”.

He noted that during the consultations, all stakeholders recognised that it was important to not only manifest a lofty intent to take account of the needs and interests of future generations, but to agree to fundamental guiding principles, make far-reaching commitments, and prescribe concrete actions to achieve this end.

Additionally, Holness said that, “for governments like mine, this effort will require a whole-of-society collaboration as we seek to embed future-thinking in all our decision-making processes across national and local government”.

As such, he said the role of civil society, academia, and the private sector in this endeavour will be critical in developing solutions as well as building and maintaining momentum towards implementation.

“In Jamaica, my Government has already begun to invest in anticipatory planning and future-proofing, recognising first and foremost that a solid macroeconomic foundation is the most basic requirement,” Holness told the summit.

“We have lowered our debt-to-GDP ratio; increased our foreign exchange reserves; reduced the unemployment rate; and achieved single-digit inflation as well as financial sector stability. This has allowed us to increase investments in urban planning and infrastructure, building for the future while taking account of changing demographic trends,” he explained.

Added Holness: “We are all, however, well aware of the capacity limitations of developing states to deal with the multidimensional challenges we currently face — climate change, debt sustainability and economic stability, access to financing for development, global shocks, etc.”

He, therefore, suggested that technology and knowledge transfer must be facilitated, including through mutually agreed arrangements.

“The international financial institutions must be reformed to provide the necessary access to financing as the means of implementation. The multilateral system, with the UN at its core, must be equipped to provide opportunities for developing and sharing best practices. In this regard, a follow-up mechanism will also be important so that implementation of commitments we make over the next few days can be appropriately measured and monitored,” said Holness.