Roundup: Countries to mull over financing for new sustainable development agenda

UN member states, starting Tuesday, will consider proposals to align the outcome of the upcoming Conference on Financing for Development with the new sustainable development agenda that will be adopted in September.

The session, which runs till Friday, comes as countries are preparing for three major conferences this year -- the Third Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in July, the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in New York in September and the Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.

The year "2015 is perhaps the most important year for development since the founding of the UN 70 years ago," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the spring meetings in Washington D.C. last week.

World leaders will convene at UN Headquarters in New York in September to agree on a sustainable development agenda for the next 15 years that is universal and people-centered. At the core of the new agenda are 17 proposed sustainable development goals that build on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight anti-poverty targets to be reached by the end of this year.

"Financing the new sustainable development agenda is a challenge, but it is possible," said Wu Hongbo, UN under-secretary- general for economic and social affairs. "The resources are there, " Wu said at a press briefing, yet there are obstacles to overcome, like corruption, tax evasion and illicit financial flows.

A report from the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing highlighted the opportunities for mobilizing the resources needed to support sustainable development.

For example, despite the financial crisis, global savings from public and private sources "remain robust, at about 22 trillion (U. S.) dollars a year." The report suggests that "even a small shift in the way resources are allocated would have an enormous impact," and calls for strategic, green investment that will help eradicate poverty, promote prosperity and protect the environment.

The finance, trade, technology and capacity-building solutions needed to make inclusive, sustainable development possible have been included in targets under each of the first 16 Global Goals and also as the final standalone goal, to be known as "Global Partnership for Development."

The Third Conference on Financing for Development will be held in Addis Ababa on July 13-16 to shape a global plan to deliver predictable financing for sustainable development.

At the heart of the discussions will be strategies to help governments unlock both domestic and international resources to improve the lives of their people and future generations.

Also being considered will be opportunities to forge partnerships between governments, civil society and businesses to encourage sustainable investment and align public and private spending for the greatest impact.

"In Addis, the international community must lay the groundwork for a successful summit on sustainable development at the United Nations in September and the climate change conference in Paris in December," said Wu.

The Conference will assess the progress made in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus (2002) and the Doha Declaration (2008) in terms of Official Development Assistance ( ODA) commitments, trade and external debt relief, the mobilization of domestic public resources, international public resources, domestic and international private resources as well as access to technology innovation and capacity building.

Discussions will also address taxation and illicit trafficking and look at emerging new challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation and social and economic inequalities.

"The Conference provides the opportunity to agree to a new sustainable development financing framework that taps into all sources of development finance. This is the best time ever to intensify our efforts -- as real interest rates are low and rates of return in sustainable development are high," said the UN chief in Washington last week. Endite