ESCAP Financing for Development Series – serie

This report is part of ESCAP Financing for Development Series. The report examines the trends, challenges, and opportunities that policymakers, regulators, and private finance (banks, issuers, and investors) in Asia and the Pacific face in mobilizing public and private financing for key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly around climate action. Its aims to spur a more robust and informed debate amongst key stakeholders within member States, to establish consensus on critical measures to move the region towards a net zero path and to bring greater clarity regarding the benefits and consequences of selected policy and financing choices in the short and the long- term. The report proposes eight Principles for Action in Sustainable Finance for further deliberation and dialogue among ESCAP member States: (1) the establishment of new partnerships for financing climate action, including policymakers, regulators and private finance; (2) effective NDC financing strategies helmed by government authorities with sufficient mandate and authority to implement them; (3) Redoubling of efforts to build capacity in climate, carbon and financial skills of policymakers, regulators and private finance; (4) Regulation to drive forthcoming change in financing decisions; (5) Policymakers need to send clear signals to investors who make investment decisions; (6) strengthen project preparation through engaging private finance and project developers in the pre-investment phase; (7) local investors in Asia and the Pacific need to adopt net zero pledges in line with NDCs; and (8) regional cooperation on taxonomy alignment, convergence, project preparation, cross-border capital investment and data comparability.

ESCAP's biennial series on financing for development publishes monographs on selected issues on financing for development from a regional Asia-Pacific perspective. The series aims to contribute to regional and national dialogues on strategies for the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This will be the fourth report of the series and to be published in 2021. The report will discuss policy options that countries in Asia and the Pacific can pursue to finance the SDGs and build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. Three chapters are being prepared as part of this report as follows. Chapter 1 analyzes selected policies options proposed in the global FFD process in the context of Asia and the Pacific. Chapter 2 considers innovative financing mechanisms. Chapter 3 focuses on developing digital financing role in fostering sustainable development.