On October 11, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN, gave an intervention before the Second Committee of the Seventy-First Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Agenda Item 19, dedicated to “Sustainable Development.”
In its statement, the Holy See said that the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development hinges on going beyond economics, social and environmental parameters and placing the human person at the center. The person’s integral development includes moral, spiritual and religious dimensions as well. This will involve a paradigm shift in development thinking, placing the dignity of each person and the common good at the heart of planning, and involving especially the poor as active agents in development. Markets are important, but ethics is key to a well-ordered market economy, which is a mutually beneficial exchange rather than a contest of the survival of the fittest. Sustainable, integral development requires honest government and business leaders working together in a public-private partnership, it said.
The statement can be found here.