UN Fin4Dev 2021 Report highlights the crucial role of PDBS in financing SDGs
30 March 2021IDFC is a proud member of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Fin4Dev in charge of the UN Report
The 2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) of the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) on Financing for Development led by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) was launched on March 25th, 2021, with a focus on the financing of the sustainable recovery in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.
For the first time IDFC contributed to this report and one of the key statements was that the United Nations recognized the crucial role of Public Development Banks (PDBs) in reorienting global finance towards SDGs and even call upon the international community to strengthen the system of development banks, in the trend of the Finance in Common Summit.
On the top of the 26 mentions of the term “Public Development Banks”, now officially recognized by the UN, the report is clearly recommanding in its introduction a call for PDBs as such in the financing of sustainable development investments :
“ The international community needs to better leverage public development banks (PDBs) as a tool for sustainable development investment. In many countries, PDBs were instrumental in supporting the COVID-19 crisis response, including those newly established by countries of the South. Well-managed PDBs can allow for a more transparent accounting of both public liabilities and associated assets—in essence they can ringfence assets and borrow against them……..The international community can help strengthen the system of development banks; for example, cooperation between national and multilateral banks can help banks build capacities while also leveraging local knowledge; continued research on appropriate capital, risk management and SDG reporting frameworks can support PDB governance and risk-informed lending for SDG investments”
Moreover, in its press release UN DESA is emphasizing on this recommendation by inviting to ” better use the PDBs as a investment toll in sustainable development”
This recognition is a great achievement for the Club’s efforts in advocacing for Sustainable Development Investment and the IDFC leading role in the Finance in Common Summit that is now become the Finance in Common Systems, positionning itself, more and more strongly within the development finance community.
