The financing for sustainable development agenda promises to bring together more actors than ever before – from businesses, governments, philanthropists, and remitting households – to address the world’s most pressing problems and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, in spite of this promise, the financing for sustainable development gap is growing. While needs continue to increase, resources available to developing countries have been constrained and in some cases even declining, as illustrated by the recent drop in foreign direct investments. New financial instruments and interactions have yet to mobilise much-needed new resources in sufficient volumes. And despite significant advances, we do not yet fully understand the opportunities and risks faced by the various actors in this complex new global financing system. ''This report sounds a wake-up call. To fulfil the commitments of the 2030 Agenda, and lift hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty, the international community needs to maximise the development footprint of existing and future resources, thereby “shifting the trillions” towards the SDGs. The first in a series, this report charts a forward path for the changes required in measurement, policies, and operations to achieve these ambitious objectives.

Blended finance offers one innovative approach to bridging the sustainable financing gap. To maximize the effectiveness of financing for sustainable development, this report recommends improving the measurement and monitoring of development finance, including through numerical targets for the use of blended finance. The report further recommends developing new tools to facilitate the attainment of targets assigned to innovative financial instruments such as the blended finance toolkit developed on the basis of the OECD DAC Blended Finance Principles. The report also recommends building capacity in developing countries, including through training on blended finance to strengthen existing tools at the country level.



Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2019