Report of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development – serie

This report finds that the world is facing a sustainable development crisis, and that financing challenges are at the heart of the crisis and imperil the SDGs and climate action. It notes that the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 will be a last chance to correct course if we want to achieve the SDGs by the 2030 deadline. It calls for urgently closing financing gaps through an investment push, for closing policy and architecture gaps to make the international financial architecture fit for purpose in a crisis-prone world, and for closing credibility gaps, translating rhetoric into action to rebuild trust in multilateralism.

The Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) assesses progress in implementing the commitments and actions in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Its 2020 edition puts an emphasis on digital technologies, and their potential to accelerate progress in financing for development and SDG achievement, as well as the risks and challenges they create.

This report assesses progress in implementing the commitments and actions in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The global economic recession and financial turmoil from COVID-19 (coronavirus) are derailing implementation of the Agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Even before the pandemic, the 2020 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) of the Inter-agency Task Force noted that there was backsliding in many areas. Due to the crisis, global financial markets have witnessed heavy losses and intense volatility. Particularly worrisome is the prospect of a new debt crisis. The FSDR highlights both immediate and longer-term actions, including arresting the backslide, to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Recommendations are included in the report.

The Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) assesses progress in implementing the commitments and actions in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

The Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) assesses progress in implementing the commitments and actions in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Global sustainable development prospects continue to diverge. Two years ago, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Inter-agency Task Force warned of a global divergence that could lead to a lost decade for development. By 2022, these risks had materialized—a great finance divide was translating into a development divide. Over the past 12 months, the war in Ukraine, sharp increases in food and energy prices and rapidly tightening financial conditions further exacerbated challenges for many countries, increasing hunger and poverty and reversing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite some positive signs, the global macroeconomic outlook remains highly uncertain and particularly bleak for many of the poorest and most vulnerable countries faced with growing debt service burdens and tight fiscal constraints. Delaying investment in transformation is thus not an option. The multiple crises can shorten the time horizons for decisions—by policymakers, investors, businesses and individuals. Delaying investments would put the 2030 targets out of reach and exacerbate financing and macroeconomic challenges down the line. Sustainable and productive investments today can transform and diversify economies and enhance resilience to shocks, including inflationary supply-side shocks, tomorrow. As laid out in the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, such investments also enable countries to mobilize resources over time and better service debt. This is why the 2023 Task Force report focuses on sustainable transformations, including a roadmap for governments, along with changes in the way finance works.