The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) convened a week-long conference to tackle the difficulties that developing nations are facing in the middle of the current global crises. The Secretary-General implored the participants – which included national and business leaders, sustainable stock exchanges, sovereign wealth funds, and finance professionals – to take action in enforcing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Stimulus Package to provide $500 billion in investments to the developing world. The forum also discussed the $4 trillion SDG investment gap, as only 15 percent of SDGs are projected to be accomplished by 2030, with the investment shortage in the developing countries increasing to $4 trillion from $2.5 trillion in 2015.
The leaders looked into strategies to generate sustainable finance in global capital markets, ensure sustainability standards in sustainable finance, and direct more funds to the areas that need them the most. They highlighted the importance of international collaboration between the public and private sectors due to the immense investment requirements. The first day of the forum coincided with World Food Day, and UNCTAD and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) highlighted the essential role agrifood systems play in addressing global malnutrition, the loss of biodiversity, and climate change.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said that transforming agrifood systems in low and middle-income countries will cost around $680 billion annually between now and 2030, and thus, it is vital to attract efficient public and private sector investment in agrifood systems.
The Investment Promotion Awards 2023 were given to ten investment promotion agencies and special economic zones from Brazil, China, Egypt, France, India, Namibia, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates. The awards honored the efforts of investment promotion agencies in bringing in investment to promote the transition to clean, sustainable energy to reduce climate change, as well as innovative approaches to investment promotion, finance, and partnerships.
Although international investment in renewable energy has nearly tripled since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the majority of the growth has been in developed countries. Consequently, a dedicated track in the forum will concentrate on advancing climate finance and investment. UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan expressed that, “Only five per cent of all sustainable funds are located in developing countries. Funding exists, but allocation has been misguided.”