Devex Invested: Private sector gets serious on development goals at UNGA

The assessment of where things stand on both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the growing climate crisis was a bit like New York’s weather on Monday — rather grim. I’m particularly reflective this whirlwind week around the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meetings this year — be it the fact that it’s a moment of global reckoning on the SDGs, or that I’ve just marked my 10-year anniversary at Devex covering these issues. I’ve been thinking back to a piece I wrote in 2015 about how the private sector had pushed for a seat at the table with the SDGs. This week, one thing I’ll be watching as I head to the Clinton Global Initiative, Bloomberg Transition Finance Action Forum, High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, and more is whether the companies and financiers have stepped up in the years since — and if so, how. While the week is still young, here’s what we’ve heard so far: • There is certainly more awareness among corporations about these issues now than there was back then. And I’m told that while the SDGs may be overly ambitious, they have served as a useful way to frame and guide corporate efforts (maybe more so than in other types of organizations). • “The time for talking about public-private collaboration and accelerating private investment is sort of over. You kind of have to prove it by doing the transactions and doing the investments,” Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah tells me. He said it’s also unrealistic to count on the private sector to invest in many of the lowest-income markets. • But that doesn’t mean that efforts can’t get back on track — leaders and institutions have to step up, Shah tells me. The World Bank has an opportunity to do so but needs to raise more funding for the lowest-income countries, raise different types of funds, leverage its balance sheet, and also design more creative instruments. One idea: pooling demand for battery storage from countries that lack access to bring down pricing, similar to what was done for vaccines or HIV medications. • Ilan Goldfajn, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, tells Devex Managing Editor Anna Gawel that both he and World Bank President Ajay Banga “bring a new perspective” and are “thinking about financial innovations in order to scale things.” That means no more slow project-by-project efforts, but specific types of contracts and mechanisms that can be used for specific risks. • He thinks that despite being behind on the SDGs, everyone from governments to the private sector to NGOs knows there is urgency and are becoming more concrete and focused on implementation. “Does this mean that everything will be fine and suddenly we are going to change a revolution? No, but I think we are going to run a little bit faster now,” he says. • At the Clinton Global Initiative meeting on Monday, Israeli businessman Ziv Aviram launched EcoBridge, a new fund aimed at funding technology companies tackling climate challenges. Afterwards Aviram told me they are looking to raise $1-2 billion for the fund, which will invest globally. There are enough mature companies and proven technologies but they struggle to scale and need money and management expertise to get there, he said. Aviram said he wants to see results fast from his fund but that everyone from governments, regulators, scientists, businesses and the media need to step up to tackle the climate crisis. • It’s also impossible to get away from geopolitics. Marco Serena, chief sustainable impact officer at the Private Infrastructure Development Group, warns that growing competition around infrastructure, particularly in Africa, is not conducive to actually building more much-needed projects in these markets. “Geopolitics matters for infrastructure so we need to be even more aware of the challenges,” he tells me. Stay tuned for more from our conversation about financing infrastructure investments and the gap between rhetoric and action. Are you at UNGA this week? If so, get in touch! Not available in person? There’s still time to register to join the livestream of our Devex @ UNGA 78 sessions on mobilizing SDG investment and reimagining the global financial architecture. Follow the money The U.N. system is of course incredibly complex — to say nothing of its financial structure. So how does it generate income, where does it spend its money, and which of its many agencies receive the most funds? My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan breaks down the data for Devex Pro members. Read: How does the United Nations fund development? (Pro) + Not yet a Devex Pro member? Start your 15-day free trial today to unlock the piece and all our exclusive reporting and analysis. The show must go on The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Morocco have announced that the institutions’ annual meetings in Marrakech will go ahead as planned from Oct. 9 to 15 despite a recent devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,800 people. The meetings will be held some 45 miles away from the epicenter of the 6.8 magnitude quake that struck on Sept. 8. In assessing whether to hold the event, “key considerations were that the Meetings would not disrupt vital relief and reconstruction efforts, and that the safety of the participants can be assured,” the World Bank and IMF said in a statement, noting that some content would be adapted to the circumstances. Put your money where your mouth is Leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies backed a joint agreement calling for “better, bigger and more effective” multilateral development banks at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, earlier this month. The declaration essentially ​​endorses a road map on reforms which they say could free up an extra $200 billion in lending to help tackle growing global challenges such as climate change. But it stopped short of offering any firm financial commitments, which experts say are needed alongside reforms, writes Devex contributor Catherine Davison. “Without a commensurate increase in the financing capacity, there is a real concern that the resource availability for the core development mandate of MDBs will face a severe crunch,” V. Anantha Nageswaran, chief economic adviser to the government of India, tells her. Implementing reforms, “while an important building block, will not suffice for the financing needed.” Read: G20 endorses multilateral bank reform — but is it enough? Background reading: G20 experts urge 'inescapable' capital increase for development banks (Pro) + Read up on our coverage of multilateral bank reform. Early arrival The United Kingdom is on track to meet its pledge to mobilize £8 billion ($9.93 billion) of development finance annually about three years early, according to a new study from the Center for Global Development. While the U.K. has been criticized for deep aid cuts, it is succeeding in catalyzing new finance, in large part by guaranteeing loans to lower-income countries by multilateral development banks, according to the report. My colleague Rob Merrick writes that the report also highlights some room for improvement: greater transparency and a need for British International Investment to focus more on fighting poverty. Read: UK on track to hit £8B private finance pledge 3 years early + Catch up on all the latest news in the U.K. aid sector. What we’re reading Push for climate philanthropy takes on urgency at UNGA. [Devex] Heavy on hype but light on action? Can the U.N. climate summit deliver? [Devex] Anna Gawel contributed to this edition of Devex Invested.