Financing for Sustainable development is at a crossroad, according to a recently released report by the United Nations, titled “2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads.
According to the report, financing gaps for sustainable development are widening.
An estimated $4 trillion, is needed by international organizations and developing countries annually.
The finance divide has not been bridged, with developing countries paying around twice as much on average in interest on their total sovereign debt stock as developed countries, according to the report.
Many countries lack access to affordable finance or are in debt.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development, chaired by Li Junhua, is the author of the report.
The team says the upcoming Fourth International Conference in 2025, is a once in 80 – year opportunity to support transformation of global financing patterns.
“This is the last chance to correct course if we want to achieve the SDGs by the 2030 deadline.”
They recommend the upcoming Conference, be used to close financing gaps for Sustainable development goals/climate investments (both public and private) at scale and with urgency.
Other recommendations, include closing policy and architecture gaps, as well as the need to close credibility gaps and trust deficits both locally and globally.
The report paints a bleak picture for 2030, if sustainable development targets are not met. Current projections estimate around 600 million people will continue to live in extreme poverty.
Around 50% of this figure are women.
Graph below from the report: An indication of the average return earned by developed and developing countries on their external assets. Between 2005 and 2022, the difference was around 2.1%. Developed countries earned a higher rate of return (averaging 0.3%) on their external assets than they paid on their liabilities.
Picture: Brock University