Implementing Agenda 2030 - No money, no SDGs

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Implementing Agenda 2030 - No money, no SDGs

Summary

Taking in a range of issues from gender equality to climate change, the UN’s Agenda 2030 is deep and broad. Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets will require wider, greater contributions that the UN’s previous targets, the Millennium Development Goals.

With budgets in western, donor governments – long the biggest source of official development assistance (ODA) – under pressure, implementation of the goals will depend on new ways to mobilise financing, participants told a Friends of Europe debate on 14 June. Beyond the West, contributions could come from a new range of donor countries that have achieved big leaps in economic development in recent decade, such as China, Turkey and South Korea. Financing from the private sector will be increasingly important too. And civil society could play a greater role, in promoting stability and monitoring progress. The challenge is to mobilise these actors.

“The question people are asking all over the world is: Is it serious?” said David Nabarro, United Nations Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, who said he was speaking on behalf of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “The answer is yes. We are treating it as a manifesto for the future of the world and its people – to sustain life as we know it for coming generations. Every company, every investment house has to see that it is their responsibility to advance this. You can’t excuse yourself from participating.”

Though the SDGs are not arranged in a hierarchy, Li Yong – Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) – emphasised the importance of number nine: “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.” Much of the funds for this will come in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) rather than ODA – and FDI has, in any case, become far larger. “For many years ODA played an indispensable role in helping countries move out of the poverty trap,” Li said. “Now, UNIDO has strongly proposed that FDI should be one of the focuses to help us generate financing for development.”


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About

About

Agenda 2030 encompasses a broader and deeper agenda than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Official Development Assistance (ODA) will continue to be important in the coming years but implementing the new Agenda 2030 – with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets – will require more than government spending. Over the next 15 years, there must be an expanded use of innovative financing tools, public-private partnerships, investments and greater coordination with new development actors, including China, Turkey and South Korea. Stronger domestic resource mobilisation is needed as is an overhauling of global tax rules. An emphasis on accountability, follow-up and review of financial flows must be ensured.

  • There is much talk of donor fatigue when it comes to ODA but what are the other main obstacles in finding effective financing for development?
  • What is being done on the international stage and in national capitals to accelerate resource mobilisation and change tax rules to ensure implementation of the SDGs?
  • Are traditional donors working with new development actors to ensure coherence and consistency in policy and projects?
  • Philanthropy has emerged as an important source of revenue for development but is business as closely involved as it should be in public-private initiatives?

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Schedule

Schedule

Welcome and registration of participants
Implementing Agenda 2030 - No money, no SDGs
Expand Implementing Agenda 2030 - No money, no SDGs

Introductory remarks by

David Nabarro

United Nations Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Li Yong

Vice-Chair of the China Association of International Trade Expert Committee

Moderated by

Shada Islam

Managing Director at New Horizons Project

Speakers

Speakers

Photo of Li Yong
Li Yong

Vice-Chair of the China Association of International Trade Expert Committee

Show more information on Li Yong

With an extensive background in international trade studies, Li Yong is frequently consulted by government departments for analysis on major international trade issues and policy recommendations. He is a standing council member of numerous committees and societies, focusing on issues like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and American and European economic and strategic studies. Li is also China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) current affairs and economics commentator, and he is frequently interviewed by both Chinese and Western media on China-US relations, as well as international economic and trade issues.

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