UNITED NATIONS (APP) - Financing challenges are at the heart of the world’s sustainable development crisis – as staggering debt burdens and sky-high borrowing costs prevent developing countries from responding to the confluence of crises they face, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday. “Only a massive surge of financing, and a reform of the international financial architecture can rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” the report said, as Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said that it has come “at an extremely important time.”
The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads (FSDR 2024) said urgent steps are needed to mobilize financing at scale to close the development financing gap, now estimated at USD 4.2 trillion annually, up from USD 2.5 trillion before the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions, climate disasters and a global cost-of-living crisis have hit billions of people, battering progress on healthcare, education, and other development targets. “This report is yet another proof of how far we still need to go and how fast we need to act to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told reporters.
“We are truly at a crossroads and time is running out. Leaders must go beyond mere rhetoric and deliver on their promises. Without adequate financing, the 2030 targets cannot be met.” Noting the General Assembly’s decision to convene the fourth international conference on financing for development (FFD) in 2025, Ambassador Akram told APP, “The report outlines the magnitude of the SDG financing crisis facing the international community, estimating that the SDG financing ranges from between 2.5 and 4 trillion USD annually for developing countries, and outlines key and emerging issues in the financing for development agenda.