1 December 2015: UN Member States, World Bank representatives and stakeholders discussed the need to invest in inclusiveness, sustainability, and growth as a prerequisite for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event hosted by the World Bank Group and the New York Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) also served to launch a country development diagnostic framework that assesses implementation challenges, potential policies, and sources of fiscal space for countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The event ‘From Goals to Implementation: Growth, Inclusiveness, and Trajectories’ took place on 1 December 2015, in New York, US.

Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate in Economics, said the discussion on equality has expended dramatically because of job “polarization,” a result of two factors: digital technology (automatization, replacement of routine jobs by machines) and globalization. He said the human capital skills market has not adapted to the demand market, and stressed the need to transition to a labor force that complements, not substitutes for, technology. He also called for investing in getting people, companies, NGOs, and governments ready, and stressed that investment creates growth opportunities.

David Donoghue, Permanent Representative of Ireland and co-facilitator of the intergovernmental negotiations on the 2030 Agenda, said the SDGs’ interconnectivity requires governments to find policies that support flexibility and innovation, especially for facilitating youth employment, gender equality, and access to financial services. Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya and co-facilitator of the intergovernmental negotiations on the 2030 Agenda, recalled that Member States focused on setting the SDGs, not on the ingredients for their success. He said the 2030 Agenda marks the beginning of the game plan, and details must be fleshed out by the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF), the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs), and regional organizations, among others.

George Talbot, Permanent Representative of Guyana and co-facilitator of negotiations on the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3), said developing countries are not waiting for the world to do things they can do themselves, but there are still significant gaps. He noted a “mismatch” between the trade discussions at the UN, and how things actually evolve in the trade area, where instead of “leaving no one behind,” countries adopt a “no one gets ahead of me” approach. Talbot said the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) tries to address the challenge of infrastructure as an essential cross-cutting issue, and invited the World Bank to help with the infrastructure forum.

Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group, expressed concern about the lack of data on poverty rates for many countries, which he said is vital for SDG indicators. He stressed that measuring growth is not enough; equity, employment, gender and capital accounting must be taken into consideration. He identified three aspects that need “serious work:” the bottlenecks in the current trade system; public debt; and taking an integrated approach for SDGs implementation, including by the ministerial cabinets. Mohieldin explained that silos are useful for specialization and accountability, and said that while the World Bank is reorganizing itself to accommodate the integrated approach, the Bank is still very mindful of silos’ role.

Peter Bakvis, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), stressed the need for policies to increase formalization, end discrimination, and change tax regimes so that capital income is taxed as much as labor income. Judith Karl, UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), highlighted the powerful acceleration effect of the localization of finance. Oh Joon, Permanent Representative of Korea and President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), announced that ECOSOC will hold a special meeting on inequality, on 28 March 2016. [Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Website] [Event Concept Note] [IISD RS Sources]