Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has addressed a special event in New York to relaunch the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
The goals are a set of high-level initiatives to protect the environment and improve the lives of people all over the world.
"The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are an urgent and universal call to action; to end poverty, to protect the planet, and to improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere," said Mr Varadkar.
World leaders meeting at the UN have warned of the peril the world faces unless it acts with urgency to rescue a set of 2030 development goals to wipe out hunger and extreme poverty and to battle climate change.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the summit of leaders that only 15% of the targets are on track and that many are going in reverse.
Last year, Ireland and Qatar were tasked with creating a resolution that all the UN member states could agree on that would try and reboot the SDG programme.
In his speech, the Taoiseach said: "The negotiations were not easy, because the stakes are so high and the implications for the world so profound."
Mr Varadkar said he will urge leaders to make maximum use of the time ahead to make up lost ground and focus on ensuring they reach the targets they have set themselves over the next seven years.
"My visit to the United Nations comes at a time of critical challenge for the world," Mr Varadkar said.
"Ireland has been centrally involved in developing and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals which were adopted in 2015," he said.
Mr Varadkar acknowledged that progress in achieving the goals has been "set back by the pandemic, the consequences of conflict, including in Ukraine, and by the increasing pace and ferocity of extreme weather events".
He said: "I will be urging leaders to make maximum use of the time ahead to make up this lost ground, and to really focus on ensuring we reach the targets we have set ourselves by 2030."
"The world's most vulnerable people in particular, are depending on us," he added.
Earlier this month, Mr Guterres called on G20 leaders to ensure a stimulus of at least $500 billion per year towards meeting the goals. He called on countries to act now.
The leaders are meeting in the shadow of geopolitical tensions, largely fueled by the war in Ukraine, as Russia and China vie with the United States and Europe to win over developing countries, where achieving the Sustainable Development Goals are key.
"Instead of leaving no one behind, we risk leaving the SDGs behind ... the SDGs need a global rescue plan," Mr Guterres told the summit.
The UN said this month that there are 745 million more moderately to severely hungry people in the world today than in 2015, and the world is far off track in its efforts to meet the ambitious United Nations goal to end hunger by 2030.
The cost of meeting global targets rose 25% to $176 trillion during the year that ended in September 2022, with performance on several measures reversing, a report said last year.
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What to expect for UN General Assembly week
The General Assembly meeting begins tomorrow and will be addressed by US President Joe Biden, but the leaders of Britain, France, China and Russia are sending deputies.
Mr Zelensky is expected to address the General Assembly in person.
Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan will take part in a number of climate action events at the General Assembly, in preparation for the next COP meeting on combatting climate change.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will take part in UN events on pandemic preparedness and universal healthcare later in the week.
The Taoiseach will also travel to Florida to open a new Irish Consulate General in Miami, before returning to New York to make Ireland’s national address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on Friday.
