An Investigation into Financing for Sustainable Development in the Global Partnership

Abstract

Financing needs for sustainable development are enormous, but small compared to global financial assets. Redirecting a small percentage of these assets toward sustainable development could have an enormous impact. Domestic and external sources, including both public and private flows, have to be mobilized. These should be regarded as complements, not substitutes as each has unique objectives and attributes. Forging a global partnership for financing sustainable development involves a fine balance between economic, social and environmental needs of various stakeholders. The partnership must improve the international allocation of resources for sustainable development across all relevant areas, stakeholders and processes of the post-2015 development agenda while at the same time providing a framework for development cooperation to ensure sufficient financing for sustainable development. In this context, this partnership should put in place collective mechanisms in order to ensure that the rules, institutions, and governance of the “global economic engine” are geared to enable sustainable outcomes as a whole. This paper aims to highlight two major objectives for the partnership for the financing of sustainable development, as well as concrete partnership goals to achieve them:The partnership must ensure coherence and coordination between different policy processes, institutions and stakeholders at the systemic level. Increased cooperation and coordination would promote a more coherent international financial architecture that supports sustainable development.The partnership must help increase the mobilization and improve the allocation of resources for sustainable development across all relevant areas, stakeholders and processes of the post-2015 development agenda while at the same time providing a framework for development cooperation.Furthermore, the paper suggests some concrete goals for partnerships on the mobilization of three sources for financing sustainable development: (a) mobilizing domestic public and private resources for development; (b) mobilizing external private resources; and (c) mobilizing external public resources and improving development cooperation. Secondary data have been used in the paper and methodology of analysis is secondary in nature. The paper concludes that people, as consumers and producers, will need to contribute to mitigation efforts, and people will need to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In this context, efforts to channel funds into technological solutions are critical, but must be complemented by efforts to strengthen the capacity of people to mitigate and adapt to a changing environment. Consequently, the global partnership on sustainable development finance requires donors to invest in health and education, and human capital more broadly, but also to promote special efforts to aid the most vulnerable populations. Important current initiatives in this connection include programs that channel climate and environmental finance to smallholder farmers so that they can increase their resilience and increase agricultural output while at the same time reducing and diversifying climate-related risks. As for ‘adaptation’, it is essential that more attention is given to the integration of demographic, social, economic and environmental data within geographical information systems. This would help to identify vulnerable areas, as well as populations, and encourage more effective policies to decrease vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience. Finally, the global partnership should also encompass and further promote other non-financial modalities for supporting sustainable development. This should include in-kind contributions (human resources as seconded personnel or volunteers; equipment or media related products and services), exchange of skills and best practices, particularly through South-South and triangular partnerships. Peer learning as well as knowledge, experience and technology sharing should result in new development of partnerships.