To meet the investment needs of the Sustainable Development Goals, the global community needs to move the discussion from “Billions” in ODA to “Trillions” in investments of all kinds: public and private, national and global, in both capital and capacity. Globally, achieving the proposed SDGs will require the best possible use of each grant dollar, beginning with some US$ 135 billion in ODA. Yet flows for development include philanthropy, remittances, South-South flows and other official assistance, and foreign direct investment— together these sources amount to nearly US$ 1 trillion that needs to be used just as effectively. The most substantial development spending happens at the national level in the form of public resources, while the largest potential is from private sector business, finance and investment. This is the trajectory from billions to trillions, which each country and the global community must support together to finance and achieve the transformative vision of the SDGs. “Billions to trillions” is shorthand for the realization that achieving the SDGs will require more than money. It needs a global change of mindsets, approaches and accountabilities to reflect and transform the new reality of a developing world with highly varied country contexts.
Read article in French: http://www.banquemondiale.org/fr/news/feature/2015/04/18/financing-the-future-of-development
