UN General Assembly President to urge finance leaders to unlock the trillions of dollars needed to end poverty and achieve sustainable development
NEW YORK, 9 October 2015 — The President of the UN General Assembly, Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, will on Saturday urge Finance Ministers, Bank Governors, Multilateral Development Banks and business leaders to unlock the trillions of dollars needed to finance the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
As the first General Assembly President to be invited to speak to the influential Development Committee at the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF in Lima, Peru this weekend, Mr Lykketoft said that he will call on all stakeholders and the private sector in particular to get the money flowing as soon as possible.
“We need to build on the momentum of the historic UN Sustainable Development Summit by ensuring that government leaders translate their commitments into immediate action. No one can make this more possible than Finance ministers. I will be asking them to ensure that public and private resources are increasingly directed at ending poverty and achieving sustainable development,” he said.
Building on the UN Summit just two weeks ago, the Development Committee will focus on how the World Bank Group can support implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The President will encourage member states to live up to their commitment to provide 0.7 per cent GNI in development assistance and highlight the need to implement the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
“It’s really pretty obvious,” Mr. Lykketoft said. “These new global Goals will not be realised without enormous financial resources. This will require strengthened domestic taxation systems, better governance, greater international tax cooperation and more and better international aid. It’s time to act.”
The President will also discuss the links between the 2030 Agenda and the forthcoming Climate Conference in Paris.
New reports on climate finance released this week by the OECD and the UN Secretary General demonstrate that funding for green investments is rising. Developed countries have made “significant progress” towards meeting their commitment to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020, while more private investors are increasingly focussing on green portfolios. Policymakers, however, can do more.
“Getting private finance more focussed on sustainable development can be a real game-changer. Policymakers, both domestically and internationally, must develop the tools to further increase the demand for and flow of low-carbon and climate-resilient investment in infrastructure, land use and renewable energy, including by creating carbon price markets and improving the insurance sector’s ability to respond. They must also do more to ensure that the most vulnerable developing countries benefit from this shift,” Mr Lykketoft said.
Given the scale of the current global refugee crisis, the President will also make the case for a comprehensive financing plan and a more coherent response from the international community. He will discuss the possibility of providing financial assistance on favourable terms to the countries hosting most of the refugees.
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Notes:
1. The Development Committee is a ministerial-level forum which advises the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund on critical development issues and on the resources required to promote economic development. This is the first time that a President of the UN General Assembly has been invited to address the Development Committee, which meets for the 93rd time this weekend. The PGA’s flights will be funded by the Danish Government and he will be the guest of the Government of Peru in Lima.
2. Report from the UN Secretary General on ‘Trends in private sector climate finance’
3. Report from the OECD on ‘Climate Finance in 2013-14 and the USD 100 billion goal’