ESCAP and the Republic of Korea urge governments to adopt innovative financing measures to advance 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific

Tuesday 24 October 2017 15:56
A new report released today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in partnership with the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) of the Republic of Korea, is calling for governments to adopt innovative financing models to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region.

While donor and philanthropic funds add up to billions of dollars, the cost of solving the world's most critical development challenges runs into the trillions, with an estimated annual funding gap of $2.5 trillion to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

"It is imperative to implement innovations that can divert private capital towards development objectives to help bridge the SDG financing gap," explains United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Dr. Shamshad Akhtar. "The Innovative Financing for Development in Asia and the Pacific report aims to spark ideas and knowledge sharing to help stimulate further action to develop the innovative financing solutions urgently required for the advancement of the 2030 Agenda," she added.

"Public policy plays a key role in enabling innovative financing for development by creating a favourable ecosystem where private capital pays more attention on SDGs," pointed out Dr. Song, Jong Guk, President of STEPI, a leading Korean policy think-tank in the field of science, technology and innovation. "STEPI is very pleased to contribute to this flagship report to highlight the importance of innovative financing for the SDGs," he added.

Since 2009, the Seoul metropolitan government has been implementing social economy policies to address growing inequalities, high youth unemployment rates and an aging society. These comprehensive policies have been highly successful and there are now 3500 social enterprises operating in the city, with sales volumes reaching 1.29 billion USD.

The success of the programme is based on four pillars: a cooperative governance model that encourages private and public stakeholder participation throughout the whole policy cycle, the localization of the social economy through the creation of social economy zones, fostering an ecosystem for the social economy, and expanding the public procurement of services and products offered by social enterprises to provide them with business opportunities.

The report analyses this and other innovative financing mechanisms in five core areas, namely: strategic leadership models that promote impact investing; policies that unlock corporate investment for development; private sector financing products for development; innovative public financing models for science, technology and innovation; and systemic approaches to finance and innovation as means for development.

It also features a range of other case studies from around the region and offers valuable guidelines for policymakers looking to introduce similar mechanisms. Examples include the India Impact Investment Council, the Thai Social Investment Taskforce, India's Corporate Social Responsibility Law and Singapore's Women's Livelihood Bond, the problem-solving R and D programme of the Republic of Korea and the Social Outcomes Fund in Malaysia.

Key recommendations for governments include developing an impact investing strategic road map to guide the development of an innovative financing movement. The report also underlines the need for governments to provide incentives for the private sector (for example through public procurement or tax incentives) to move from economic-driven investments to impact investments that generate social, environmental and financial returns.

The report is part of ESCAP's efforts to support its Member States in promoting social enterprises and impact investment.