23 March 2015: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Regional UN Development Group for Europe and Central Asia held a regional consultation to discuss financing for development, with a focus on strategies and instruments in the UNECE region to promote resource mobilization for sustainable development and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. The outcome will be included in a Chair’s Summary, as an input to the intergovernmental negotiations ahead of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3).

The consultation took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23 March 2015, and was attended by approximately 150 participants, including experts and representatives of governments, civil society, private sector and other international organizations.

Michael Gerber, Ambassador and Special Envoy for Global Sustainable Development, Switzerland, highlighted three key issues on which FfD 3 must deliver: “how to unlock private resources for sustainable development; how to create a conducive international environment for domestic resource mobilization; and how a renewed global partnership will look like.”

Referring to financing needs, Manuel Sager, Secretary of State and Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), said “the money is there,” and global savings “by far” surpass the needs to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the vast majority of these savings lying in private hands. This underscores the importance, he said, of appropriate mechanisms and regulatory frameworks to channel these resources into meeting the SDGs.

Christian Friis Bach, UNECE Executive Secretary, called for: ensuring that all financial flows take into account and contribute to sustainable development needs; ensuring that regulations and instruments cover not only finance but also trade, technology and all types of resources; transparency and mutual trust; and “developing clear rules for public-private partnerships.”

Amina J. Mohammed, UN Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, underlined the need for strong regional cooperation in the “new and fundamental transition to sustainable development.”

Other delegates also called for following-up on commitments and for effective monitoring and mutual accountability at the national, regional and global levels, noting that the regional level can make a critical contribution to capacity-building, experience sharing and peer learning.

In closing remarks, Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), welcomed concrete proposals to respond to the needs of the region, such as new and innovative financing mechanisms, impact investment and public-private partnerships, and a larger role for multilateral development banks. He outlined the need: for governments to create enabling environments “while ensuring that risks are shared fairly;” and to promote integrated reporting of the social and environmental impacts of private activity, “to ensure that all investments become sustainable.” Wu added that participants underlined the importance of: official development assistance (ODA); taxation; increasing the effectiveness of ODA; and making real progress on international cooperation in tax matters and on the international trading and investment regime.

The Latin America and Caribbean region held its FfD 3 consultation on 12-13 March, with Africa’s consultation following on 23-24 March. [Meeting Webpage] [Meeting Agenda] [USG Wu Remarks] [UNECE Press Release] [Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Press Release] [IISD RS Story on ECLAC Consultation] [IISD RS Story on UNECA Consultation]