18 March 2015: The President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has released concept notes for informal interactive hearings with representatives of the business sector and civil sector on the financing for development (FfD) process. The hearing with the business sector will convene on 8 April 2015, followed by the hearing with civil society on 9 April 2015. The hearings are mandated in UNGA Resolution 68/279 as part of the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on FfD.

The business hearing aims to identify opportunities for new partnerships and joint action by business, government and other stakeholders to ensure financing for sustainable development and the achievement of the post-2015 development agenda. The hearing will include a plenary session, three panel sessions and a closing. The panel on infrastructure finance will consider: developments in private sector infrastructure financing and ways to assess results; areas of infrastructure that are more difficult to finance; the experience and role of public-private partnerships, blended finance and multi-stakeholder initiatives; incentives for increased infrastructure investments; strategies to encourage institutional investors to accelerate investment in infrastructure; and enabling and regulatory frameworks and policies to reduce investor uncertainty and catalyze private sector financing, and other topics.

The panel on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and finance will focus on how to catalyze the growth of SMEs, including: building blocks to enhance SMEs competitiveness; whether government subsidies allow SMEs to commercialize innovations, products or services or instead skew the marketplace; measures to address financial market volatility in SMEs; application of governments’ and international financial institutions’ (IFIs) due diligence requirements to SMEs; capacity building for SMEs; linkages between SMEs and large businesses; innovative solutions for SME debt financing structures; and regulation and policies to foster public-private mechanisms to fund SMEs.

The panel on responsible investment and environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations throughout the investment chain will address the role of investors and companies in designing and implementing a financing strategy for global sustainability, including recommendations on policies and practices to align private investment with sustainable development. It will consider: investment opportunities emerging from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the role of principle-based voluntary approaches in adopting ESG considerations towards sustainable development; the role of integrated thinking, non-financial disclosure and sustainability reporting in achieving more effective capital allocation and sustainable capital markets; government policies to support responsible investment practices that align with SDG financing needs; and partnerships to mobilize private investment to contribute to SDG implementation.

The civil society hearings will underscore linkages among negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and accountability and follow up mechanisms, and will address capacity building, technology and innovation. It will include an opening plenary, four interactive roundtable discussions and a closing.

The roundtables are expected to focus on: domestic public resource mobilization, including international tax cooperation; international public finance, including official development assistance (ODA) and innovative financing sources; systemic issues, including global economic governance; and international trade and investment, including private finance.

The hearings will result in a summary by the UNGA President. [Concept Notes for Interactive Hearings for the Business Sector and Civil Society on FfD] [Webpage on Civil Society and Business Involvement in FfD 3]