War and funding shortfalls have hampered progress toward the United Nations' flagship development goals which include action to combat climate change, the organization's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday.

In 2015, UN member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, 17 targets to transform the world by 2030 including by completely ending extreme poverty and eliminating hunger.

But Guterres said Friday that "the world is getting a failing grade."

"Our failure to secure peace, to confront climate change, and to boost international finance is undermining development," he told a briefing in New York, unveiling the latest progress check on the targets.