Financing for sustainable development report 2021

This report highlights the risk of a sharply diverging world in the near term where the gaps between rich and poor widen because some countries lack the necessary financial resources to combat the COVID-19 crisis and its socioeconomic impact. Short-term risks are compounded by growing systemic risks that threaten to further derail progress, such as climate change. The report assesses the impact of the pandemic on the global macroeconomic context, including a discussion of the interlinkages between economic, social (e.g. health, inequality), and environmental (e.g. climate) risks. The paper further explores the growth of global systemic risk, with a view to identify policy options for financing that is sustainable and resilient, and that ensure that sustainability and resilience are financed.

The report recommends immediate actions to prevent this scenario and put forward solutions to mobilize investments in people and in infrastructure to rebuild better. It also lay outs reforms for the global financial and policy architecture to ensure that it is supportive of a sustainable and resilient recovery and aligned with the 2030 Agenda.