Analysis
The UN’s **2022 SDG Report** (published July 2022) explicitly states that cascading global crises had stalled or reversed progress on over **30% of SDG targets**, including poverty, hunger, and climate action. Guterres’ call for a 'rescue plan' aligns with the report’s urgent tone and the **2022 Global Sustainable Development Report**, which warned of 'code red' for multiple goals. His framing of the SDGs as a 'shared vision' is consistent with the **2030 Agenda’s preamble**, adopted by all 193 UN member states in 2015. No credible evidence contradicts the claim’s core assertions.
Background
The SDGs, adopted in 2015, set 17 interconnected goals (e.g., no poverty, zero hunger, climate action) with 169 targets to achieve by 2030. By 2022, the **UN Secretary-General’s annual SDG progress reports** highlighted stagnation or regression in key areas due to COVID-19, inflation, and geopolitical conflicts (e.g., Ukraine war). The **2022 UNGA session** itself focused on crisis response, with Guterres’ speech echoing earlier warnings from the **UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)** and **World Bank** about widening inequalities and climate inaction.
Verdict summary
António Guterres’ 2022 UNGA statement accurately reflects the UN’s own assessments that SDG progress was severely off track, with multiple crises (pandemic, climate, conflicts) reversing gains by mid-2022.