The UN on Wednesday called for a “sustainable industrial transformation” to close the widening development gap between countries, meet ambitious climate targets, and reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.
Amid growing food and energy crises stoked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an uncertain global economic outlook, and the escalating impacts of climate change, the 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing Sustainable Transformations, says that “urgent, massive investment” is needed to accelerate positive transformation of the electricity supply industry, farming, transportation and construction.
There are signs of sustainable growth that could benefit all countries, and create a realistic platform to reach the SDGs, the report suggests, such as the extraordinary expansion in internet use, with over 38,000 new users getting online each hour.
“Without the means to invest in sustainable development and transform their energy and food systems, developing countries are falling even further behind,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in the foreword to the report.
“A two-track world of haves and have-nots holds clear and obvious dangers for every country. We urgently need to rebuild global cooperation and find the solutions to our current crises in multilateral action.” Some of the necessary changes are already taking place, the report highlights. The energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine has spurred investment in global energy transition, which skyrocketed in 2022 to a record $1.1 trillion.