July 2014: The 16th edition of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Magazine, ‘Making It’ focuses on the theme ‘Partnerships and Financing for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development.’ The issue highlights potential ways to address environmental and social challenges in a sustainable and lasting manner, including through partnering with the private sector and harnessing industry’s potential to achieve sustainable development.
A keynote feature, titled ‘Engaging with the private sector in the Post-2015 Development Agenda,’ emphasizes the importance of working with the private sector to address global and national challenges in developing and developed countries. The feature stresses the role of multi-stakeholder dialogues, such as the Green Industry Platform and Caring for Climate (C4C), to mobilize resources and deliver measurable results. It recommends “identifying new forms of partnerships that put forward innovative business models that respond to commercial imperatives while also delivering on the development front,” underscoring that transformative development solutions exist through business with the potential to address agriculture and food, climate change, gender equality, water and other challenges.
The report also features sections on: the launch of a development bank by Brazil; Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICs); partnerships between the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the private sector; and the role of development assistance. Features also consider how to finance various initiatives and partnerships, including financing for the post-2015 agenda in Africa and the transition towards a green economy.
Noting the cost for developing countries to transition to climate resilient green economies will be “huge,” a policy brief, titled ‘How developing nations can close finance gaps,’ discusses the International Institute for Environment and Development’s (IIED) experience in seven countries to illustrate how public actors can contribute to addressing climate finance through intermediaries, instruments and planning systems. An end piece highlights the potential for a united Caribbean front on climate finance.
The magazine also features a letters section, an interview with Ambassador Aliyar Lebbe Abdul Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to UNIDO, on South-South cooperation and business news and trends.
UNIDO publishes ‘Making It’ quarterly. The magazine aims to serve as a forum for discussion on the intersection of industry and development. [Publication: Making It]