Bank heads call for shift in approach to funding new development goals
EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti has joined the heads of other multilateral development banks and the International Monetary Fund in proposing a new approach to delivering financing for ambitious new development goals to be unveiled this year.
The international community is expected to adopt a new set of goals for the development agenda for the next 15 years that embrace a broad series of objectives ranging from eradicating poverty and hunger to ensuring gender equality, promoting quality economic growth in inclusive societies and providing sustainable energy and infrastructure.
A total of 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replace and build on the Millennium Development Goals that have been in place since the turn of the century.
In a joint statement issued in Washington today, the heads of the institutions said, “The resources needed to implement such an ambitious agenda far surpass current development financial flows. Achieving the SDGs will require moving from billions to trillions in resource flows.”
Such a paradigm shift called for a mechanism that was capable of channeling resources and investments of all kinds—public and private, national and global.
“Financing from private sources, including capital markets, institutional investors and businesses, will become particularly important”, the statement said.
The paper was signed in Washington by the heads of the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the EBRD, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
The proposals will contribute to discussions ahead of an international conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July 2015.
In a high-level discussion in Washington on Friday hosted by U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, EBRD President Chakrabarti will highlight the importance of leveraging private sector finance and draw on the Bank’s experience in attracting private finance for its investments in emerging nations.
The EBRD has been a pioneer in devising innovative instruments to bring private finance for example into sustainable energy investments including the promotion of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency projects.
During Friday’s discussion Changing the Conversation on Development Finance, the EBRD President will also stress the strong alignment between the new development goals and the Bank’s priorities.
As the EBRD steps up its response to the challenges facing the regions where it invests, it is placing a important focus on helping to build resilience in economies to strengthen them for the future, on promoting integration, especially in key areas like infrastructure, and on helping to address global challenges such as climate change, food shortages and the need to build more inclusive societies.
