Opening Speech at Seoul Financing for Sustainable Development Forum

Transcription

1 Opening Speech at Seoul Financing for Sustainable Development Forum 18 May 2015 Young-mok Kim President of KOICA Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentleman, On behalf of KOICA and UN SDSN, I would like to welcome you all to the Seoul Financing for Sustainable Development Forum. I am truly honored to have you all at this important forum SDGs and Climate Change 1. The Post-2015 Development framework is being set. The Sustainable Development Goals, which succeed to Millennium Development Goals, are being formulated. The Post-2015 agenda is much more comprehensive and reflects the success and limits of MDGs achievement. At the center of identifying SDG goals stand the challenge of Climate Change and how to achieve inclusiveness. As discussed at the IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meetings held in Washington DC last April, over the next 15 years the global economy will require an estimated $89 trillion in infrastructure investments across cities, energy, and land-use systems. Also $4.1 trillion will be needed for the low- 1

2 carbon transition to keep within the internationally agreed limit of a 2 degree Celsius temperature rise. 2. Also, UN and OECD expect the cost for the proposed new development agenda, which will likely aim at both ending poverty and increasing sustainable development across dimensions, would cost approximately $1 trillion annually. However, WB estimates that only about $34 billion flowed from developed to developing countries in climate finance flowing in 2013, still leaving a gap of $70 billion in the commitment agreed by the world s developed countries to mobilize $100 billion annually by The Climate Policy Initiative estimates the total climate finance flows from all sources in 2010 at US$ billion of which 74 percent come from the private sector and 21 percent from development finance institutions. These figures mean that financing from private sector is crucial to address Climate Change. 4. Therefore the world is facing the question of how to mobilize financial resources for climate change. Damages of Climate Change are much more severe in developing countries given their vulnerability in infrastructure and lack of resources. Challenge of Education 5. The second challenge we need to deal with is Education. Most leaders and experts believe that equity in educational opportunities, offering quality education for whom out of educational chain will greatly reduce poverty, inequality and lead to an inclusive growth of individual state and of the world as 2

3 a whole. 6. About 60 million of children remain out of school and only 14% of the poorest countries complete secondary education. 7. According to UNESCO, the world is facing a $20-30 billion annual shortfall in education finance to achieve globally-agreed goals, including achieving secondary education for all. Children in conflict areas, oppressed countries and refugee camps do not have rights to proper education which every human being should have. I hope our meeting today will contribute to raising awareness, increasing our commitment and capacity to making tangible progress toward this goal. 8. To address the mismatch of supply and demand of financial resources, in 2012, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, in short SDSN, was launched. SDSN has been providing technical advice to the Secretary General led by Professor Jeffrey Sachs. The SDSN has convened in a series of meetings to help establish a new global development framework. SDSN has held two forums specifically focusing on financing for sustainable development, one in New York and the other in London, with a view to materializing engagement and resources from the private sector for facing imminent global challenges. I salute the members of SDSN and SDSN Korea. What KOICA Can Do for Narrowing Financial Shortfalls 9. Having these challenges and tasks in mind, KOICA and myself have adopted a strategy named, Inclusive Growth by Inclusive Partnership. 3

4 10. Through our own experience and achievements we have made, we become convinced that furthering our tasks would not be possible without partnership, an open partnership, with both domestic and international players of will. 11. Many organizations such as UN system, aid organizations of friends, renowned and committed global private foundation and networks, NGOs of compassion, academia, sensible corporate and business communities have become own partners in one way or another. 12. KOICA becomes naturally a platform for many capable actors. Today I should recognize the presence of high-level representatives of Korean business community who have worked with us in many partner countries to help their development efforts in education and human resources development, rural and agricultural development by Saemaul Strategy, projects for infrastructure, power generation water management, financing consulting, etc 13. KOICA s Saemaul Strategy focuses much on education, training, ownership creation and women empowerment. I thank all the partners who have joined us and who offer us to join their program as well. 14. As the international community is concerned within the huge shortfall in financial resources, it becomes apparent that aid organizations like KOICA should be able to find ways to motivate private resources, particularly capitals in the market, to invest in projects of low-return but having great public value on one hand, and strengthen capacity of partner countries to benefit from wider flows of private resources on the other hand. 15. Helping developing countries with studies and plan, policy and institution 4

5 building, skills and technology, management know-how looks more important than ever in terms of making projects of priority bankable ones, in addition to innovative financial methodologies. Conclusion In parallel, helping people at the bottom of revenue pyramid to advance in value chain remain as equally important to achieve inclusiveness. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs called for a holistic approach and new ideas to produce prosperous, inclusive, sustainable, and well-governed societies in his new book, The Age of Sustainable Development. I hope this forum will be a platform for the prominent leaders and experts once again to recognize our common challenges and pool their wisdom for a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable and better governed world. Thank you. /The End/ 5