Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are nearing eight years since the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and are halfway to the 2030 deadline. Yet, progress on the SDGs is nowhere close to being on track. In key areas at the heart of our agenda, such as poverty reduction, we are regressing.
The unmet financing needs for the SDGs are only getting larger and development financing is not keeping pace.
The threat of crushing debt looms over too many developing countries, and their economic outlook remains bleak. Recent bouts of instability in the banking sectors of developed countries underline the significant downside risks that prevail in a challenging global macroeconomic context.
A convergence of global shocks –the COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts of the war in Ukraine, the ongoing climate emergency – have battered all countries. But in developing economies with limited fiscal space to respond, the impact is magnified.
With financing constraints preventing developing countries from responding to these crises and investing in sustainable development, the “great finance divide” risks becoming a lasting sustainable development divergence.
Delaying investment in sustainable transformations is not an option.
The series of global shocks have raised the urgency for international reform and led to calls for institutional change. The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report urgently calls on the international community to take advantage of this moment of possibility and to undertake a concerted effort to finance the timely realization of the SDGs through actions in 3 areas:
First, embark on a new green industrial age and sustainable industrial transformations; second, scale up international concessional financing and aid to support these SDG investments; and third, take advantage of the biggest rethink of international finance, monetary, trade, and tax systems since the 1940s to finally make the system fit-for-purpose.
Before introducing the report’s main messages, allow me to first thank members of the Inter-agency Task Force for their excellent collaboration. The Task Force brings together expertise from throughout the UN system and beyond, including more than 60 agencies and institutions. The IMF, World Bank, WTO, UNCTAD and UNDP all play a key role, alongside my department. I am grateful for their support.
Excellencies,
Historically, industrialization has been an engine of growth, job creation and technological advancement. Scaling up investment in sustainable industrial transformation can be the key to rescuing the SDGs.
But many developing countries lack the fiscal space to launch major public investment in a sustainable transformation, or to provide support to domestic firms to build the capacities they need.
We cannot allow the “great finance divide” to become a lasting sustainable development divergence that pushes the SDGs out of reach. We must act with urgency to prevent such a scenario.
First, countries need to chart their own national paths to achieve the SDGs, through viable strategies to accelerate sustainable industrial transformations.
The current revival of industrial policies opens a window of opportunity for countries to pursue such transformations. The 2023 FSDR calls for a new generation of sustainable industrial policies, supported by integrated financing frameworks and scaled up international support.
Financing policies are at the heart of industrial transformations: investment incentives, procurement rules, strengthened national development banks, and macro-economic policy frameworks should all be aligned with and supportive of such transformations.
Second, the international community must urgently scale up development cooperation and boost SDG investment. Demands on development cooperation are higher than ever, but development financing is not keeping up. ODA commitments must be met; climate financing must be scaled up and be additional. Strengthening the MDBs and the system of public development banks can deliver significant new resources, as pointed out by the Secretary General in his call for an SDG Stimulus.
The ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum can build the momentum needed in the lead up to the SDG Summit and the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in September. These are opportunities for the international community to come together and agree on an investment push for the SDGs which can supercharge national efforts to refocus on the SDGs.
Third, we must make the most of the current moment as an opportunity to reform the international financial architecture.
This architecture is in flux, as discussions and institutional reform processes are ongoing across all areas of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. But the conversation remains too fragmented. There is a risk that discussions proceed in silos and fall short of the ambition needed to make the overall architecture fit for purpose for the sustainable development agenda. The different strands must come together and must be fully aligned with the SDGs and climate action.
Excellencies,
The world is at a crossroads. Reform processes are considered or already ongoing across financing policy domains and in various international fora. But these efforts must be brought together and viewed as the pivotal piece of achieving our shared goals – the SDGs, and the Paris climate targets.
I am convinced that the United Nations provides a unique platform to galvanize collective action on these issues.
I trust that your deliberations at this year’s FfD Forum can prevent a lost decade for sustainable development and shore up the financing and transformations needed to deliver on the promise of the SDGs.
Thank you.