First Vice-President Moreno highlights the role of cities and regions for sustainable development at the UN conference in Seville

First Vice-President Juanma Moreno represented the European Committee of the Regions and the Government of Andalusia at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) that was held from 30 June to 3 July in Seville, Spain.

Speaking at a parallel event on financing the localization of Sustainable Development Goals, the President of Andalusia pointed out the historical role of his region at the crosspoint of civilisations, making it "the ideal ground for launching a new period of partnerships for development, future and hope". He stressed that the voice of local and regional authorities needs to be heard in the global debate on sustainable development, as their proximity to the citizens gives them a unique view on the particularities of each territory.

"Competences of regional and local governments encompass all the Sustainable Development Goals, including essential services with a direct impact on everyone: education, health, housing, transport, water and waste management, clean energy, or resilience against climate change. There is no sustainable development without regions and cities. Therefore, it is imperative to strengthen funding for regional and local authorities to provide public services, allowing them the flexibility to adapt to the conditions of each territory", Mr Moreno said.

The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development was organized by the United Nations and the Spanish government with the aim of building a renewed global financing framework to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The conference resulted in the outcome document called Compromiso de Sevilla (Sevilla commitment).