Post 2015 Development Agenda: Key Issues

SACHIN CHATURVEDI

The Future We Want * UN Conference on Sustainable Development set out a mandate for an Open Working Group in its report The Future We Want.

* Set of SDGs conceptualised and the mandate was to make them coherent with development agenda beyond 2015.

* Poverty eradication as the greatest global challenge for sustainable development and hunger as the biggest impediment.

* Promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives

The Future We Want * Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, World Summit on Sustainable

Development (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation)

* the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (Barbados Programme of Action)

* Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 (Istanbul Programme of Action), the Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countries

* the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development, the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development

Action at Country Level * Outcome document, it was recognized that each country faces specific challenges to achieve sustainable development

* Each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development and the role of national policies, domestic resources and development strategies

* Diversities in Development Strategies.

* SDGs (17) accompanied by targets and will be further elaborated through indicators focused on measurable outcomes

Sustainable Development Financing * At the forthcoming Addis Conference major issue is of financing

* Inter-governmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing has called for global partnerships

* How to mobilize financing according to national priorities?

* How to ensure the policy space necessary to implement effective national sustainable development strategies?

* What all this may entail?

This may entail: * Global trading and investment systems that are deemed fair to all the countries

* Global regime that reduces fragmentation and complexity of international public finance (Southern Institutions?)

* Adequate capitalization of exiting funds

* Simplification and harmonization of rules for international public funds

* Commitment (??) for financing global public goods

This may entail: * How to reduce global financial fragility?

* Issues related to sources of international financial volatility

* Brisbane G 20 is going to address issues related to the reforms of WB/IMF, deepening international cooperation on taxes and illicit flows, regulating banks and shadow banking systems and

* Strengthening the means for cooperatively resolving sovereign debt difficulties

Strengthen regional cooperation

* Strengthened regional cooperation can play an important role in mobilizing financial resources for sustainable development.

* Among other things, effective regional arrangements can provide financing for regional public goods, facilitate trade flows and attract investment into key sectors such as infrastructure.

* Regional cooperation also provides excellent opportunities for information exchange and peer learning in fiscal, financial and economic affairs.

* Role of Financial Institutions like SDF/Bank

Trend in AID Flows

OECD has just completed its sixth comprehensive DAC

Survey on Donors’ Forward Spending Plans (April 3rd 2013)

Decline in 2012 and global country programmable aid (CPA), is expected to stagnate over 2014-16.

Major increases in CPA are projected for MICs, primarily China, India, Indonesia etc. in the form of bilateral and multilateral soft loans.

Survey reveals a significant reduction in programmed aid, amounting to nearly half a billion dollars.

Primarily affects countries in sub Saharan Africa, such as Burundi, Chad, Madagascar, Malawi and Niger.

UNESCAP Study on Aid for Trade

Aid for Trade flows amounted to 41 bn in 2013

Lower infrastructure commitments in Africa as raised during Bali Meeting

Private sector development and value chain promotion are increasingly prioritized and flows continue to increase to these areas

Increasing support for multi-country programme reflects their higher impact

Commitments to LDCs have doubled since 2002-05

Policy Coherence: Case of Agriculture

USDA distributes between $10 billion and $30 billion in cash subsidies to farmers and owners of farmland each year.

Subsidies go to farmers of five crops—wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, and cotton.

In addition to routine cash subsidies, the USDA provides subsidized crop insurance, marketing support, and other services to farm businesses. This is another $ 5 billion

European Union (EU) spends around 50 billion EUR on the CAP in the form of decoupled direct payments

Studies have shown that agricultural subsidies distort input and output markets.

Source: OECD data base

Policy Coherence: Case of Agriculture

Plight of C4: West and Central African (WCA) countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad have gone through tremendous stress.

March 2003, a panel was established to investigate the Brazilian compliant that the US cotton subsidies were prohibited.

Rest is history.

C4’s closest coalition ally has remained the Brazil- and India-led G20 coalition, which has strongly campaigned for the reform of US subsidies

In 2011, India launched special DC project for C-4

AMS Calculations and Agriculture

G-33 proposed that the provisions on Public stockholding for food security purposes be taken up for a formal decision by the WTO ministerial conference (MC9) in December 2013 in Bali.

Existing subsidy rules should be completely changed as they are totally unfair for DCs, and are not even complied with by the US and EU.

The EU is also reluctant, saying that disciplines should be put on stockholding.

Global Challenges and Way Forward

Goal 8 requires that at the outset we need to enlarge the policy space available to countries that are latecomers to development.

Also need to priority needs to be given for addressing asymmetries

How divide of N-S be turned into partnership?

How about SSC as a model?

SSC framework: both the partners have a responsibility for self-development in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Strengthening autonomous capacity for goal-setting, decision-making and national implementation.

Greater role of trade and private sector.

Enables a particular country to progress on its own: Presupposes horizontal supportive flows with new institutions like BRICS Bank

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How about SSC as a model?

Aid Effectiveness * Trade

- Market Access

- Domestic Support Policies

- NTBs/Standards

* Investment

- Enterprise Development

- Markets/Value Chain

* Technology

- Productivity

- Value Chains

* Sectoral approach – central approach