Recently, a new report released by the United Nations (UN) stated that more investment is needed if the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed upon by all United Nations members back in 2015, are to be achieved by 2030.The reason for this situation is due to staggering debt burdens and sky-high borrowing costs faced by developing countries that prevent them from responding to the confluence of crises they face.
Key Highlights of UN Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024
Key Issues
- Lack of Basic Services: Rising geopolitical tensions, climate disasters and a global cost-of-living crisis have hit billions of people globally, which has halted the progress on healthcare, education, and other development targets.
- Increase in Debt Services: Debt services in the Least developed countries (LDC) will increase from USD 26 billion annually in 2022 to USD 40 billion annually between 2023 and 2025.Stronger and more frequent disasters, caused by the ongoing climate crisis, account for more than half of the debt upsurge in vulnerable countries.
- Higher Burden of Interest Payment: The poorest countries now spend 12% of their revenues on interest payments, 4 times more than they spent a decade ago.
- Roughly 40% of the global population live in countries where governments spend more on interest payments than on education or health.
- Slowing Development Fundings: In Least developed countries, development fundings are slowing down.Due to several reasons such as low domestic revenue growth due to tax evasion and avoidance, falling rate of corporate tax (which was 28.2% in 2000 to 21.1% in 2023), due to globalisation and tax competition etc.Also, Official Development Assistance (ODA) from OECD countries and climate finance commitments are not being met.
- According to the Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing for Development at a Crossroads Report 2024, around USD 4.2 trillion investments is needed to close the development financing gap.
- This number was USD 2.5 trillion before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Suggestions
- International financial system, which was set up at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, is no longer fit for purpose.
- A “massive surge of financing” and a “reform of the international financial architecture” can help to achieve SDGs goals by 2030.
- Setting up a new coherent system that is better equipped to respond to crises.
- To achieve the SDGs global cooperation, targeted financing, and, crucially, the political will is the need of the hour.
Progress of India in Achieving SDGs
- Progress: India ranks 112th out of 166 countries (from 121st in 2022) in terms of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in United Nations SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2023.
Progress in Key Goals
- Goal 1- No Poverty: India has successfully lifted millions of people out of poverty, reducing the poverty rate from 45% in 1993 to around 21% in 2011.(Goal 1: No Poverty)
- Around 415 million people exited poverty within a span of just 15 years between 2005 to 2021 in India, according to the latest Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2023
- Goal 2- Zero Hunger: The prevalence of undernourishment in India has decreased from 18.2% in 2004-2006 to 14.5% in 2016-2018.
- However, India is still home to a quarter of all undernourished people worldwide, making the country a key focus for tackling hunger on a global scale.
- Goal 3- Good Health and Well-being: India has made significant improvements in maternal and child health, with a reduction in maternal mortality ratio from from 384 in 2000 to 103 in 2020 (UN MMEIG 2020 report).
- Under-five mortality rate has also declined from 89 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 34 in 2019.
- Goal-4 Quality Education: According to the Education Ministry, the literacy rate in rural India stands at 67.77%, while in urban India, it is 84.11%
- The ASER 2023 data shows that in the surveyed rural districts, more than 85% of youth (age 14-18) are currently enrolled in some kind of educational institution.
- Goal 5- Gender Equality: The female labour force participation rate in India increased from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 37.0% in 2022-23 (PLFS-5).