Upcoming Financing for Development Conference Unique Opportunity to Reform Global Debt, Banking, Trade Architecture, Secretary-General Tells Preparatory Committee

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, in Addis Ababa today:

Nine years ago, world leaders met in Addis Ababa and agreed on a transformative Agenda committing public and private actors to align investment and policies with sustainable development.  Yet, despite progress, we must face facts.  Many commitments remain unfulfilled.

Meanwhile, the world is facing seismic shocks that make financing challenges harder to solve — and geopolitical divisions that undermine collective action.  Faced with sky-high debt burdens and costs of capital, developing countries have limited prospects of financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The fourth International Conference on Financing for Development provides a unique opportunity to tackle these challenges head on.

It opens the door for world leaders to adopt ambitious reforms to deliver affordable long-term financing at scale — and deliver the SDG Stimulus.  And it presents a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair — from the tax and debt architecture, to the system of public development banks, to trade and investment rules, to the financial safety net and global governance.

Your process has a unique mandate to look at all these pieces of the puzzle in a holistic manner, and through the prism of the 2030 Agenda.

We will need the best ideas to inform discussions, and maximum political will to act.  And so, I welcome the initiative of the Government of Spain to convene a high-level Commission of Experts on Financing for Development.

I count on all of you to move forward with a determination to rescue the 2030 Agenda.  And together, we can deliver not only a financial system — but a world — that is more just, equitable and sustainable.