Bridgetown: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday stressed the urgent work required to help developing countries and accelerate global economic recovery at the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD15).

The UNCTAD15, hosted by Barbados, takes place online on October 3-7 under the theme "From inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all"

"Like so many small island developing states, Barbados is also a country where the global challenges we face are starkly revealed," Guterres said at the opening ceremony.

"So, this is a fitting place to discuss the urgent steps we need to take to ensure a strong, sustainable economic recovery for all. And that is a clear objective of UNCTAD," he said.

The UN secretary-general called on all countries to follow through on their commitment to help developing countries adapt to the green economy, with at least USD 100 billion in climate finance annually in support of developing countries' programs of mitigation and adaptation.

The quadrennial UN event comprises high-level segment and ministerial round-table discussions on scaling up financing for development, reshaping global and regional value chains, harnessing frontier technologies for shared prosperity and supporting productive transformation for greater resilience in a post-pandemic world.

The event sets priorities for the next four years and formulates global policy recommendations on trade and development.