Investment for sustainable recovery
The planet has just offered us a glimpse of the potentially devastating effects should we fail to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to rethink our values and proved that we need to redesign the system that balances economic, social and environmental factors to save our world. It is not an unknown fact that a large share of the resources needed to finance the development agenda should come from the private sector. This is even more valid today with decreasing public resources as a result of COVID-19.
As eloquently phrased by Christine Lagarde, President of European Central Bank, a sustainable future requires the international community to implement the three mutually reinforcing “ins”: include externalities and elements not accounted for, inform through disclosures and other means, and invest – particularly in innovation.
The UN system, along with international community, has been drawing attention to the fundamental role that the private sector and other development partners need to play.
The recent 2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development recommends putting forward solutions to mobilize investments in people and in infrastructure.