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When the GISD Alliance was launched in 2019, there was cautious optimism on the trajectory of some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This was supported by a more favourable economic and investment environment. Since then, years of progress has been reversed: 93 million more people were pushed into extreme poverty compared to 2020. Global greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise and need to be cut by 43 per cent by 2030 - a number far out of reach based on current commitments.
Looking forwards in 2023, growth predictions are being slashed - in early January, the World Bank downgraded its global economic forecast from 3% to 1.7%. Developing economies are facing the brunt of the decline. By the end of 2024, GDP levels in developing countries are projected to be roughly 6% below the levels before the pandemic.1
These losses reflect the outcomes of a series of shocks that hit the world since 2019: COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, rising food and energy prices, spiraling inflation, and the tightening of monetary policy in developed economies. Many developing countries are also at increasing risk of debt defaults: debt levels in Sub-Saharan Africa are above 40% of GNI.2
In addition, the World Bank projects that aggregate investment in developing countries will remain below its average rate of the past two decades. This will have drastic consequences for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate objectives.
Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General has expressed the clear expectation for the GISD Alliance Members to be frontrunners in the private sector for the scaling of urgently needed long-term investment for sustainable development. The overarching objective of the Strategy Group meeting will be to identify how the GISD Alliance can fast-track action to scale up investment for sustainable development, including discussions on:
- Ideas on how to reorient the GISD Alliance in light of the rapidly changing economic outlook;
- Concrete suggestions on how to fast-track the implementation of the Key Deliverables;
- Initiatives to enhance outreach and engagement on the work of the GISD Alliance, including at the regional level; and
- Ideas for future activities.