In 2019, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) estimated that an additional investment of USD 1.5 trillion per year would enable Asia-Pacific developing countries to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Following up on the analytical framework used to develop this estimate, as published in ESCAP’s ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2019: Ambitions beyond Growth,’ the Commission has now published a practical Guidebook to help policy makers and other stakeholders estimate their investment needs for implementing the SDGs. 

Titled ‘A Guidebook for Assessing SDG Investment Needs,’ the publication is paired with an online dashboard on SDG investment trends.

The Guidebook seeks to support countries in their implementation of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs). It recommends that costing SDG implementation should be “viewed as an integral part of effective planning which could also help countries develop an ambitious yet realistic financing strategy.” It further highlights that the “process of identifying interventions to be costed, their intended beneficiaries and the responsible service providers could result in improved policy design and implementation.” This result would occur if, for example, an SDG-related intervention cuts across the mandates of multiple government ministries and agencies and thus requires coordination from multiple actors to clarify responsibilities.  

The Guidebook notes that costing SDG implementation is different from other costing exercises due to what is being costed. The 2030 Agenda emphasizes universal access and leaving no one behind, which should be reflected in the costing of targets, scenarios and interventions. In addition, SDG costing should consider the interlinkages across the Goals. It notes that some targets do not include numerical outcomes, leaving room for each country to identify what is nationally appropriate. 

The Guidebook provides a Goal by Goal evaluation of considerations to take into account when costing SDG implementation. [A Guidebook for Assessing SDG Investment Needs]