There is incontrovertible evidence of the remarkable progress that has been made in human development over the last 20 years. Global GDP per capita has nearly doubled, avoidable maternal deaths and child deaths have significantly decreased by 28% and 44% respectively, and adult literacy levels have gone up by 5%. Additionally, the share of the world population with access to electricity increased by 11%. Most notably, the global poverty rate fell from 29.3% in 2000 to 8.5% in 2019.
Source: World Inequality Report 2022. https://wir2022.wid.world/executive-summary/
Yet, the pace of progress achieved remains uneven
There are clearly some areas in which progress has been lacking. CO₂ emissions per capita have increased from 4 metric tons to 4.3 metric tons over the last 20 years. Global female labour force participation has remained stagnant at around 39.5% from 2000 to 2020, and income inequality has been on the rise.
The world needs to increase its efforts to achieve the development targets set under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Various factors have hindered progress, including the climate crisis, the Russian attack on Ukraine, and a weak global economy.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges and created new ones. The funding gap for the SDGs has now reached 4 trillion USD, a 70% increase from pre-pandemic estimates. This increase is due to two
main factors: a drop in external private finance, which includes reduced remittances, foreign direct investments, and portfolio flows that used to help fund the SDGs, and emergency response public spending to address the pandemic.
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda calls for the mobilization of all types of financial resources, including private, public, domestic, and external capital, to bridge this funding gap. It has been estimated that reallocating only 1.1% of global financial assets towards SDG financing in developing countries would be sufficient to fill this gap.
responsAbility's critical role in sustainable development
As pioneers in the impact investing arena, responsAbility has consistently championed the vision encapsulated in the SDGs. Since its inception in 2003, responsAbility has been steadfastly driving capital towards areas most in need and aligning its investments with the broader aim of fostering sustainable development in emerging markets.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 global goals established by the United Nations in 2015 to address a wide range of global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice, to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030.
Source: UN Stats: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023 | OECD & UNDP: https://www.oecd.org/dev/OECD-UNDP-Scoping-Note-Closing-SDG-Financing-Gap-COVID-19-era.pdf