United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a presentation ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 28, 2021. Afghanistan on Monday presented a painting, entitled "The Unseen Afghanistan," to the UN. Afghanistan's UN Ambassador Adela Raz said at the presentation ceremony that the artwork is the first gift presented by Afghanistan to the UN since 1963. (Manuel Elías/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday convened a high-level event to galvanize global action toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In his opening speech to SDG Moment, the second of its kind, Guterres called for more efforts to bring the SDGs back on track.

"Our world is challenged like never before. From climate change, to conflicts, to COVID-19, which is putting the Sustainable Development Goals further out of reach," he said.

"It would be easy to lose hope. But we are not hopeless - or helpless. We have a path to recovery - if we choose to take it. That's what this SDG Moment is all about: coming together - coming together to save our planet and each other," he said.

The UN chief called for urgent action in five areas, including recovery from the pandemic, climate action and gender equality.

"First, we need to end this pandemic. Our response has been too slow and too unequal. I call on the world to mobilize behind a global vaccination plan that doubles vaccine production, to reach 70 percent of the world's population by the middle of next year," he said.

Guterres called for efforts to enable a sustainable and equitable recovery so that the world stays on track to end poverty by 2030.

"This means making bold investments in systems that support human development - from education and universal social protection, to health care and jobs. It means putting people above profits, including through progressive taxation, and ending tax evasion, money laundering, and illicit financial flows," he said. "And it means reforming the global financial system, tackling debt distress and ensuring that developing countries benefit from the recent allocation of Special Drawing Rights," he said.