A widespread shift to digital finance could provide the means to meet the costs of achieving the 2030 Agenda, according to a UN task force. A group of technology and finance leaders, development experts, and government and UN officials launched a report on using financial technology and digital finance to advance sustainable development, focusing on empowering citizens to better align their money with their needs.

The Task Force on Digital Financing of the SDGs was established by the UN Secretary-General in 2018, as part of a four-year strategy on financing the 2030 Agenda, and as a complement to the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation. The 17-member Task Force is led by Achim Steiner, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, and Maria Ramos, ABSA Group’s former CEO.

Citizens need to have a say over where their pension contributions go.

The Task Force launched its report titled, ‘People’s Money: Harnessing Digitalization to Finance a Sustainable Future,’ on 26 August 2020. It lays out a five-part Action Agenda to “empower citizens as tax-payers and investors in envisaging a digital transformation at scale that better aligns people’s money with their needs,” which are collectively expressed in the SDGs. These five catalysts are:

• Aligning the “vast pools” flowing through global capital markets with the SDGs;
• Increasing the effectiveness and accountability of public finance;
• Channeling digitally-aggregated domestic savings into long-term development finance;
• Informing citizens how to link their consumer spending with the SDGs; and
• Accelerating “lifeblood financing” for small and medium-sized businesses.

At the virtual launch of the report, Steiner said “the Task Force was keen to bring back the notion that the citizen is at the center of the economy. Citizens need greater transparency, and to have a say over where their pension contributions go,” as well as to see public benefits from their contributions. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the popularity and adoption of digital tools, such as digital cash transfers, connecting schools to broadband, and remotely connecting people to government and parliamentary processes. In addition, the widespread adoption of smartphones enables people to manage their finances more actively. He suggested that the financial system could be remodeled to reflect the role of citizens’ pensions and savings in global investment flows. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that among all of the Task Force’s findings, “what has truly drawn my attention is the conclusion that digitalization will make a difference by giving people greater control over how global finance — their own money — is used,” and that it increases the ability to hold financial institutions accountable. He endorsed the Task Force’s “vision of citizen-centric finance.”

Citing the “dislocation” between the commitment to the SDGs and decision-making around public financing, Guterres said the report provides a set of ideas to “deliver financing for the Sustainable Development Goals, by shifting the center of gravity of the financial system towards empowered citizens.” [Publication: People’s Money: Harnessing Digitalization to Finance a Sustainable Future] [Task Force website] [UN News story] [UNDP press release]