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The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action in three key areas to help finance the achievement of the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the 2030 deadline. These are debt, international financial institutions and finance sources.
As countries grapple with socio-economic crises of unprecedented intensities and engage in conflict and trade wars, the world is moving farther and farther away from SDG targets, Guterres warned. With a large chunk of international aid frozen, sustainable development is becoming a distant dream for many developing countries, he said.
In such a situation, efforts to boost financial support to meet these global objectives need to pick up pace, he reminded, calling for urgent action in the three key areas.
Debt, he said, need not be the burden, or "villain", for developing countries that it has become today — developing economies today spend more than $1.4 trillion a year in debt servicing. With reforms, it can become an ally, the official underlined.
He was speaking at the 2025 Economic and Social Council forum on financing for development follow-up in New York on April, 2025. His suggestions were for the team negotiating the draft outcome document of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development to be held at Sevilla, Spain from June 30-July 3, 2025.
“The G20 must also continue its work to speed up the Common Framework for Debt Treatments and expand support for countries that are currently ineligible — including middle-income countries in difficulties. And credit ratings agencies need to rethink ratings methodologies that drive up borrowing costs for developing countries,” Guterres said.
“At the same time, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank should push forward on reforming debt assessments to account for sustainable development investments and climate risks,” he added. These, along with other measures proposed in the draft, will help developing countries use debt in a constructive and sustainable way, the official noted.
Second, he urged the global leaders to augment the capacity of international financial institutions such as the multilateral development banks to ensure SDG stimulus. “This includes recapitalisation, stretching their balance sheets and substantially increasing their capacity to mobilise private finance at reasonable costs for developing countries.”
Finally, he called for concerted efforts to diversify sources of finance to fuel sustainable development. Countries should mobilise domestic resources to strengthen the health, education and infrastructure sectors. They should also try to increase blended finance options in collaboration with the private sector, he added. Governments must also find ways to effectively fight corruption to prevent misappropriation of critical funds, he highlighted.
“At the global level, we must keep working to shape an inclusive and effective global tax regime and ensure that international taxation rules are applied fairly and effectively. Donors must keep their promises on official development assistance, and ensure those precious resources reach developing countries,” Guterres noted.
UN teams across the world will also help ensure that a higher volume of resources are channelled for sustainable development at all levels, he said. He also indicated that global platforms, such as the 30th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Brazil, will be utilised to identify innovative sources of climate finance for developing countries, “leading to the mobilization of $1.3 trillion annually by 2035”.