sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

<strong>20</strong>0
As for financing gaps, the Committee of Experts created by the Leading Group on Innovative
Financing for Development has estimated that, if the resources needed to meet the Millennium
Development Goals by <strong>20</strong>15 were added to the target 0.7% of GDP for official <strong>development</strong> assistance
(ODA) plus the resources needed to address climate change, the resource shortfall would be between
US$ 324 billion and US$ 336 billion between <strong>20</strong>12 and <strong>20</strong>17 (roughly US$ 156 billion for climate change
and between US$ 168 billion and US$ 180 billion for ODA). In comparison, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has estimated that the net direct cost of the assistance provided to the advanced economies to
cope with the recent financial crisis, which was the outcome of a long process of systemic deregulation,
amounted to US$ 862 billion. This is the equivalent of 2.7% of the GDP of these countries; the cost could
increase further as Western Europe’s sovereign debt crisis unfolds (Leading Group on Innovative
Financing for Development, <strong>20</strong>10).
The shortfall in financing for <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> and the inescapable challenges posed by
environmental issues should be seen in the broader context of the international community’s inability to
finance global public goods, now compounded by the after-effects of an economic and financial crisis that
is, in this decade, causing countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) to run budget deficits and public debt at levels not seen since the post-World War II era.
International financing for <strong>development</strong> has several different components, including ODA, private
international financial flows, contributions from financial institutions and other international agencies, and
international loans. Innovative financing mechanisms and south-south cooperation are also gaining ground.
1. Official <strong>development</strong> assistance
In 1970, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2626 (XXV) proposed the objective of increasing
ODA to at least 0.7% of developed countries’ gross national income (GNI) at market prices. The
developed countries have reaffirmed this commitment on several occasions, including at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) and at subsequent summits 1 (United
Nations, <strong>20</strong>10a). In <strong>20</strong>05, at the Millennium +5 Summit and the Group of Eight (G8) summit at
Gleneagles, it was agreed to increase assistance from US$ 80 billion in <strong>20</strong>04 to US$ 130 billion in <strong>20</strong>10
(at constant <strong>20</strong>04 prices) (United Nations, <strong>20</strong>10b).
Nonetheless, between 1992 and <strong>20</strong>10, net ODA fell far below the commitment made in Rio de
Janeiro. In <strong>20</strong>10, ODA provided by developed countries amounted to 0.33% of their GNI, less than half
of the percentage target agreed upon, and below the trajectory envisaged in Gleneagles 2 (see figure V.1),
despite an increase since <strong>20</strong>04 (see table V.1). In absolute terms, only five countries (Sweden, Norway,
Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands) have met the 0.7% target. Most other donor countries are
well below their commitment. Given the developed countries’ still fragile recovery from the recent
economic and financial crisis, compounded by the persistent threat of worldwide recession, the size of
future flows remains uncertain.
1
2
Including the Millennium Summit of <strong>20</strong>00 and the International Conference on Financing for Development of <strong>20</strong>02.
According to figures from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD).