Omodele Adigun
For Nigeria and other low-income countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a whopping $3.9trillion will be required to achieve poverty reduction and stem job losses, among others, just as the Federal Government warned that funding alone would not do the magic but non-traditional sources of public finance, public-private partnerships, impact investments and strategic bonds.
According to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Vice Chairman/ Senior Vice Chairman (Africa), Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bola Adesola , who stated this at the recent Lafarge Sustainability Webinar, entitled: “The Decade of Action: Advancing the SDGs in a post-Pandemic Era”, attended by policymakers, business leaders and other stakeholders across the globe, the emerging markets will require $3.9trillion to reach the sustainable development goals by 2030, lamenting that less than 10 years to the target year, there is a funding gap of $2.9trillion.
Mrs. Adesola, however, advised that environment and social governance are critical to driving sustainable finance, adding that critical accelerations such as promoting new skills acquisition, education, innovation and preventing job losses are needed for the delivery of the 2030 sustainable development goals.
In September 2015, World Leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development as a successor development framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Agenda envisions a present and a future that is economically sustainable, socially inclusive and environmentally resilient. This is expressed through the 17 SDGs, 169 targets and 230 Key Performance Indicators(KPIs). The SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, safeguard the planet and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.