‘Time is running out’ UN report calls for $ 4 trillion investment annually to save SDGs

“Bold actions needed to scale up SDG investment and reform global financial system” UN Report

New Delhi: A new UN report alarmed that the “financing challenges” are at the heart of the world’s SDGs and climate action
crisis.

The report called for “urgent” around $4 trillion additional investment annually for developing countries as the financing gaps for sustainable development are large and growing.

This represents a more than 50% increase over the pre-pandemic estimates.

The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads” Only a massive surge of financing, and a reform of the international financial architecture can rescue the Sustainable Development Goal”.

“Urgent steps are needed to mobilise 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,” it says.

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 J. Mohammed.

“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” she added.

According to the report debt burdens and rising borrowing costs are large contributors to the crisis.

Estimates are that in the least developed countries debt service will be USD 40 billion annually between 2023 and 2025, up more than 50 per cent from USD 26 billion in 2022.

Stronger and more frequent climate-related disasters account for more than half of the debt upsurge in vulnerable countries.

As per the report, the poorest countries now spend 12 per cent of their revenues on interest payments — four times more than they spent a decade ago.

“Roughly 40 per cent of the global population live in countries where governments spend more on interest payments than on education or health,” it said.

The world is at a crossroads. This is the last chance to correct course if we want to achieve the SDGs by the 2030 deadline. Only an urgent, large-scale and sustainable investment push can help us achieve our global goals.

Next year’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 will be a once in 80-year opportunity to support coherent transformation of financing.

“Without global cooperation, targeted financing, and, crucially, the political will, the world will not achieve the SDGs,” said Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed.

“The clock is ticking. Between now and next year’s FfD4 Conference, we have a once-in-80-year opportunity to comprehensively reform the financial architecture, and a last chance to correct course before 2030. History will not be kind to those with the power to act who fail to do so, while the clock winds down on the planet and its people.”

The report points to the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024 as a crucial opportunity to change course.

It highlights the June 2025 Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) as the critical moment for countries to commit to closing the development financing gap and invest in achieving the SDGs.