The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), set to take place in Seville in 2025, marks a pivotal moment for the global community. In a context of widening financing gaps and debt pressure, escalating climate and other crises, and the urgent need to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), FfD4 offers a critical chance to renew the global financing framework, aligning ambitions with actionable solutions to the challenges of our time. As the clock ticks toward 2030, this is the moment to revitalise collective efforts, ensuring no country is left behind in the transition to a sustainable and resilient future.
The global economy has shown resilience since the COVID-19 pandemic, with growth rebounding from a 3.4% contraction in 2020 to 3.2% in 2024, but long-term growth prospects remain weak, with forecasts for 2029 at 3.1%, the lowest in decades. Low-income countries (LICs) face stagnant growth, and the gap between them and high-income countries (HICs) has widened. Geopolitical shifts, trade fragmentation and economic sanctions have worsened conditions. Despite a 22% increase in financial flows to developing countries since 2015, the SDG financing gap has grown by 60% to reach USD 4 trillion in 2022, and resources remain insufficient to meet rising needs. Additionally, rising interest rates and increasing debt in developing countries are crowding out critical investments in health, education, and climate goals.
In that context, the report identifies three priorities for negotiators seeking to renew the financing framework and action plan in Seville, and accelerate progress toward the SDGs:
1. Aim for a meaningful and politically feasible FfD4 outcome. Restoring trust among nations is critical to achieving consensus on renewing the financing framework.
Reform existing international development co-operation platforms to promote inclusivity and collaboration. Institutions inherited from the mid-twentieth Century need to adapt their governance to the new geoeconomic context and embrace new challenges in a more inclusive and collaborative way. The renewed framework should better articulate the actions of established platforms in charge of designing, measuring, monitoring and accounting for development cooperation results. This includes: articulating Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) with country platforms; clarifying and ringfencing the definition of official development assistance (ODA) and strengthening collaboration between international forums on financing for development and the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC); further promoting participation by all countries in the International Forum on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD); or utilising the updated Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) monitoring framework to empower countries to take the lead in designing and implementing development strategies.
Reaffirm core development co-operation effectiveness principles. The FfD4 intends to place developing countries in the driver’s seat. Long-standing effectiveness principles will therefore require more thorough implementation and monitoring. Country ownership and better coordination among stakeholders are essential to reducing the fragmentation of donor policies that generate high transaction costs for partners. High-impact investments require better aligning financing flows with development priorities and improving coordination mechanisms. An updated GPEDC monitoring framework could advance inclusivity, transparency, and alignment with country systems.
Improve policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD). Actors like the OECD could accelerate efforts to improve the measurement of the transboundary impacts of policies that exacerbate global inequalities, and help governments make them more coherent with the objective of global, sustainable development. For example, reforming fiscal policies, tax systems and subsidies in high-income countries can better align financial flows with SDG and Paris Agreement targets.
2. Update the FfD4 framework to walk the crest line towards a bold yet pragmatic post-2025 agenda. Since the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) in 2015, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, shrinking fiscal space and other challenges have shifted financing needs and priorities. To accelerate progress towards the SDGs, negotiators need to strike a delicate and sustainable balance between ambition and practicality.
Close “negative feedback loops”. Unless adequate financing is provided to tackle them, negative trends such as climate change, reduced human capital or excessive debt accumulation will self-perpetuate. The high short-term costs of investments in education, clean energy or infrastructure are necessary to yield long-term economic benefits and break those vicious circles.
Accelerate the “alignment of the trillions”. Global assets –worth USD 461 trillion in 2022– must be redirected towards mending SDG financing gaps. Eliminating harmful practices like fossil fuel subsidies (USD 1.53 trillion in 2022), fostering financial transparency, and advancing sustainability taxonomies can drive impactful investments. Targeting financial leakages like high remittance fees and illicit flows can unlock billions annually. Reforming multilateral development banks (MDBs) to triple lending by 2030 in just and sustainable transitions is crucial.
Identify new financing resources and levers for transition. Just transition strategies, carbon pricing and green finance reforms can mobilise resources for SDGs while addressing differentiated responsibilities and needs. Tools like debt-for-nature swaps and ocean and bioeconomy initiatives can unlock additional resources. Stronger nationally owned strategies can chart clear pathways towards the interlinked goals without undermining environmental, social and economic progress.
3. Reinforce the monitoring of the FfD4 framework for heightened accountability and transparency, with clear and actionable deliverables. This report identifies at least 70 relevant SDG targets and proxy indicators to track financing progress and adapt strategies.
Agree to clear and actionable deliverables accompanied by well-defined targets and indicators. Focusing on measurable outcomes aligned with global goals is key to maximising the impact of all sources of financing for development. This report demonstrates the potential of new metrics and safeguards to make resource allocation more equitable, enhance accountability and effectively track contributions towards achieving SDGs.
Encourage tailored FfD4 commitments. Seville should not be the end, but the beginning of a process. The new framework should call to develop a companion implementation plan with suggested actions by different actors such as the OECD DAC, the Finance in Common Summit, groups of multilateral development banks, the UN-led Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance and philanthropies, among others. These actions could be continuously monitored, and progress reported to the UN on a regular basis.
Foster adaptive learning, driving continuous improvements in how financing contributes to the SDGs and beyond. Drawing from processes like Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) and Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs), FfD4 should facilitate data-driven decision-making and capacity-building. For example, improved reporting systems and technical assistance for statistical capacity can strengthen global monitoring efforts, ensuring real-world impacts and maximising accountability.