Oxfam reaction to release of UN Secretary-General Post-2015 Synthesis Report

The UN Secretary-General's office today published its long-awaited Synthesis Report on the post-2015 framework, the global development agenda for the next 15 years. 

Oxfam Deputy Advocacy and Campaigns Director Stephen Hale said: 

"Oxfam is disappointed that the UN has not made far stronger proposals to address extreme economic inequality and climate change in its new report. The under-emphasis of both issues is a grave missed opportunity. While the first draft recognizes the need to ‘leave no-one behind’ and address climate change, dedicated goals are required to do this. These are two major injustices that are guaranteed to undermine the efforts of millions of people seeking to escape poverty and hunger over the next 15 years. 

"The fact is that just 85 individuals own as much wealth as the poorest half of humanity and this inequality is getting worse. Climate change could increase the number of people at risk of hunger – currently over 800 million – by between 10 to 20 per cent by 2050. 

"The UN must include dedicated stand-alone goals to tackle extreme economic inequality and climate change in the post-2015 framework. We urge member states to push for their inclusion in the Secretary General’s final draft. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals will offer the world neither sustainability nor development unless we tackle these two powerful injustices."