Objectives
The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of seventeen interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. However, delivering on the SDGs requires a supportive financial system that directs investments towards the SDGs and provides a financial safety net in times of crisis.
Finance is key, together with capacity-building and technology transfers, to provide the means of implementation that addresses the risks of climate change and enables sustainable development. However, attracting, directing and scaling public and private investments towards the SDGs remains a challenge. This challenge has been exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate disasters, and the ongoing war in Ukraine which have only increased the urgency and need to strengthen public-private partnerships and address issues related to climate, nature, finance and food systems, particularly in small island developing states (SIDS), least developed countries (LDCs), and the Sahel region, which continue to be disproportionately affected.
The Joint Programme is working to address the barriers and opportunities for increasing the alignment and scale of financing towards the SDGs in pursuit of a green, inclusive and sustainable recovery and in carrying forward the Secretary-General’s Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Joint Programme has adopted a multi-faceted approach to address the lack of common definitions and standards, capacity building challenges, the perceived risk of investing in sustainable assets and limited familiarity with non-conventional financial instruments (including concessional or blended finance structures) across key areas of climate, nature and food systems. In addition to delivering concrete results, the Joint Programme has supported the shaping of key narratives on financing sustainable development, that will inform development programming, policy discourse, and regulation for decades to come.
The Joint Programme supports the Secretary-General's Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In 2021 and 2022, the Joint Programme focused on five areas:
- Scaling up climate finance
- Improving the access of countries to sustainable finance, especially in LDCs and SIDS
- Accelerating innovative and digital funding mechanisms for the SDGs
- Channeling private investment to the SDGs
- Supporting food systems transformation in support of the SDGs.
In 2023, the Joint Programme consolidated its focus to adequately respond to an evolving political and economic landscape following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and drive concrete outcomes that underpin the Secretary-General’s Strategy for Financing the 2030 Agenda, in the following three key areas:
- Scaling climate finance and driving nature-based solutions.
- Build country level capacity in the Sahel region, LLDCs and SIDS to leverage sustainable financing mechanisms at the national and regional level.
- Support sustainable transformations and pathways at the national and regional level through increased private sector capacity building, investment, and engagement with particular focus on sustainable food systems.
THEORY OF CHANGE
If the United Nations system, in collaboration with partners, harnesses the power of financial systems, facilitates access of developing countries to sustainable finance, leverages climate and digital finance, with a focus on small island developing states, least developed countries, and in particular the Sahel, and transforms food systems in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, then Member States will have the capacity to foster a green and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and multilateral environmental agreements, including the Paris Agreement.
At this critical inflection point in history, the generous investment, strategic engagement and partnership of the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (previously Ministry of Ecological Transition) has been key to supporting a green, inclusive, and sustainable recovery anchored in the 2030 Agenda.
KEY RESULTS
Area 0: Ensuring the UN has the Strategic Capacity to Implement the Secretary-General's Strategy and Roadmap for Financing the 2030 Agenda
- Advancement of the strategic advocacy efforts of the Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, and Special Envoys on key financing issues including support and oversight of the Global Crisis Response Group,
- Establishment of the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection, and
- Advocacy around and SDG Stimulus and reform of the international financial architecture
Area 1: Scaling up Climate Finance
- Adoption of the first-ever multilaterally agreed definition of Nature-based Solutions as a foundation to establish the role of nature-based solutions and unlock nature finance.
- Publication of initial recommendations of the High- Level Panel on Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI)
- Establishment of the Caribbean Resilience Fund with funding windows on resilience and debt reprofiling
- Increased strategic partnerships and resource mobilization in the Sahel, including the dissemination of a stronger business case for government and private sector investment including successful resource mobilization of (USD $2million)
- Created the Integrated Bank of Projects in the Sahel (15 Projects valued at USD $390 million)
- Improved the alignment of banking and insurance sector targets with the SDGs through the global Net-Zero Banking Alliance and Net-Zero Insurance Alliance.
- Launched the Principles of Responsible Banking Academy
- Identified USD $1 billion in potential public-private results-based financing for high-quality emission reductions.
- Two new financing facilities to support deforestation-free agriculture, launched in 2022.
- Supported the operations for blended finance for deforestation-free agricultural production, enabling investment of $ USD 181.1 million.
Area 3: Accelerating Innovative and Digital Funding Mechanisms for the SDGs
- Reached a ground-breaking agreement on nature-related disclosures at COP15.
- Developed citizen-centric digital finance solutions in Bangladesh, serving as a blueprint for future innovations.
- Expanded the Global SDG Investor Platform to facilitate engagement of investors with SDG-oriented investment opportunities.
- Convened two SDG Investment Fairs to showcase country-level SDG Investment opportunities.
- Opened a technical window to enhance country-level capacities to create and structure bankable projects in Kenya.
- Provided technical capacity to support the establishment of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub to strengthen national pathways for food systems transformation.
> $55M 
$55M - $25M
$25M - $5M
< $5M
