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Ministers, Excellencies, dear colleagues

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

I would like to start by thanking the bureau and various facilitation teams, the UN secretariat and the organizers of this meeting. In particular, I would like to thank representatives of our host country, Ethiopia, for the excellent arrangements for this meeting and for their generous hospitality.

Excellencies, we are gathered here in Addis Ababa to take stock of what has been achieved, in particular since the 3^rd International Conference that took place right here in Addis Ababa. And to start a robust process aiming for an ambitious outcome at the 4^th Conference in 2025.  I won’t reiterate the magnitude of the challenge: we have a major gap to fill in financing and implementing the SDGs by 2030. The commitments and efforts of all stakeholders will be needed.

On behalf of the EU and its MS, I would like underline three key points: one on process, one on priorities and the last on the general approach and vision of the 4^th International Conference on Financing for Development and its outcomes.

First, on process. Let me stress from the outset, that the nature and quality of the process will define the nature and quality of the outcome.  It needs to be inclusive, open and transparent. All stakeholders public, private, local, national, regional and international, including - and especially - civil society, must be able to participate fully and meaningfully in the process.

On behalf of the EU and its MS, we commit to communicate proactively and in full transparency on our objectives and perspectives in this process. We invite all UN members to apply the same approach.

Second, on priorities:  On substance, we look forward to a comprehensive and robust outcome that addresses all important elements central to financing sustainable development. All sources, private and public, domestic and international as well as, where appropriate, further non-financial means of implementation will need to be fully mobilised. We must also ensure that the outcome reflects the fundamental principles of the UN charter, including respect for human rights and gender equality.

The Conference will provide much needed follow up to the political commitment of leaders undertaken in the Pact for the Future. We must focus on the core issues and main challenges, on solutions that can meaningfully move the needle. We must prioritise the objective of addressing inequalities, their causes and their underlying social determinants, across the poverty and green agendas, reducing inequalities among and within countries, leaving no one behind and addressing the needs of those furthest behind first. Preserving our planet, must be at the very core of our efforts. We need to rethink how we do things today, for example: how can we modernise the use of ODA to become a multiplier to catalyse other sources of public and private financing and ensure debt sustainability.

Last but not least, on the approach in general: the EU envisages that the Conference will adopt a robust, comprehensive and action-orientated consensus outcome in line with the principles and spirit of Monterrey and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. We will need to recognize that there are different approaches, visions, models, and tools available to each country.  Regional and national circumstances, needs and priorities to achieve sustainable development will vary.

Ladies and gentlemen, the global system is complex and interconnected, so we will have much to work through.  There will no doubt be intense discussions in the year to come on individual issues and topics. And many voices and perspectives to crystallize into an outcome that all can support.

We call for this Preparatory Committee outcome to reflect that there is, today, a shared purpose and objective to this process that we all subscribe to. That there are roles and responsibilities for all, and that these will be recognised, acknowledged and enhanced in this process and its outcome. There is no doubt that there will be competing narratives around this Conference, and politically polarising issues will be hard to avoid. Nevertheless, the EU and its MS propose to recall, today and again at every juncture ahead, our  joint commitment to this process and to the shared objective: a meaningful and balanced consensus outcome to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 

Ministers, Excellencies, I would like to close by underlining that the EU and its Member States will engage proactively and positively and look forward to fruitful engagement throughout the process.

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Roundtable 1 on Cross-Cutting Issues – EU written statement

A boost to SDGs financing is sorely needed to deliver in full on the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. This will require renewed and strengthened commitments from all sides to promote sustainable development, eradicate poverty and hunger and ensure that no one is left behind.

Today, most of the major global risks are environment-related. In this respect, 2022 was a landmark year, as the goal of USD 100 billion for climate finance was delivered for the first time. The EU, the European Investment Bank, EU Member States and their DFIs remain the world's biggest contributors of climate funding, providing at least one-third of the world's total public climate finance. The EU and its MS are also the biggest contributors for biodiversity financing.

However, the global sustainable financing remains far below what is needed to tackle the triple planetary crisis. Increasing investments in green transition in partner countries is crucial, and private finance is needed to achieve our collective goals. Climate and biodiversity should be integrated into financial flows, policies and actions, and synergies between climate and biodiversity should increase, while it is important to look at solutions that simultaneously benefit nature and people to ensure a fair transition.

The development effectiveness principles must be fully part of our fight to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions. These principles are embedded in the Global Gateway investment strategy, whose objective is to mobilise EUR 300 billion of investments to support the achievements of the SDGs.

Global Gateway represents a significant push on quality investments that are ‘clean and green’ and cover the whole scope of SDGs. It needs to be accompanied by accountability and effective reforms, particularly in the areas of good governance, public finance management and domestic revenue mobilisation, where the EU can further support partner countries.

The EU’s investments and contributions combine partner countries’ resources and Team Europe’s public and private resources, and they are aligned with partner countries’ development priorities. These investments and contributions support the enabling environment and regulatory reforms of partner countries as well as openness and transparency.

The EU remains committed to a re-think of the international financial architecture to make it fit for purpose in addressing current global challenges. The EU is fully engaged in several ongoing processes and supports a financial system that mobilises long-term investments needed to combat the climate and environmental crisis leaving no one behind and to ensure the achievement of the SDGs. We invite MDBs to step up efforts to implement their Joint Statement on Nature, People and Planet, issued at COP16.

Using a human rights-based approach to achieve our common goals ensures that no one is left behind, giving particular attention to women and girls and a role to youth and future generations in decision making.

The way ahead to the FFD4 conference offers crucial opportunities to shift gears in mobilising public and private finance for the SDGs, and collectively address current financing challenges in a comprehensive way.

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Roundtable 3 on Debt and debt sustainability – EU written statement

Debt risks in low- and middle-income countries remain elevated, and high interest payments continue to constrain investment needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than half of low-income countries are at high risk of debt distress or already in debt distress, according to the IMF/World Bank Debt Sustainability Analysis. Many middle-income countries are also facing severe liquidity constraints, and some are at risk of debt distress.

Sound public debt management, building on stability-oriented macroeconomic policies, is critical in managing elevated debt risks and increasingly complex debt instruments. The international community need to make sure that global and regional debt management capacity building initiatives are well-resourced and well-coordinated, to deliver sustainable capacity in beneficiary countries. The EU strongly supports the World Bank / IMF Debt Management Facility (DMF) and UNCTAD's Debt Management and Financial Analysis System Program (DMFAS). These programs, together with their implementing partners, continue to play a key role in strengthening debt management capacity. At the same time, they need to evolve to adapt to a rapidly changing context, in which low-income countries increasingly borrow commercially. They will also need to pay special attention to countries in fragile situations.

Debt transparency is also crucial in maintaining debt sustainability and increasing investor confidence, which could contribute to lower risk premiums. In addition, debt transparency helps debt management to be more accountable to Parliaments, Supreme Audit Institutions, and civil society. The EU has been a long-term supporter of improved debt data recording, reporting, and monitoring in its partner countries. 

Unfortunately, the climate crisis and debt vulnerabilities are increasingly connected. The negative effects of climate change aggravate sovereign debt challenges. Therefore, the EU calls to integrate the financing needs related to climate adaptation and mitigation into fiscal- and investment strategies, debt sustainability analysis, and debt management. The ongoing reflection at the IMF and the World Bank for adapting their Debt Sustainability Framework is welcome in that respect. To mobilise funds for climate investment, the EU has launched the Global Green Bond Initiative to help low- and middle-income countries issue green bonds for the first time.

The EU also endorses the use of Climate Resilient Debt Clauses (CRDCs), a new instrument which allows debt service to be paused to provide breathing space when countries are hit by natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods or earthquakes. A group of lenders at COP28, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), recently committed to offer CRDCs to Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. In order to apply CRDCs at a larger scale, uncertainties around their triggering mechanisms and their pricing effects need to be reduced. The EU stresses the importance for CRDCs to be part of a wider risk financing toolbox for each country.

Finally, the EU fully supports debt relief to low-income countries in unsustainable debt situations and welcome recent progress in the implementation of the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments. As individual country cases [Ghana, Zambia, Tchad] show, the Common Framework can deliver. We need to make the debt treatment process under the Common Framework more timely and predictable. We would like to see more clarity on the process and the timelines, for both creditors and debtors. We support the extension of the Common Framework to middle-income countries and welcome the ongoing work of the IMF-World Bank Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR).

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Roundtable 4 on addressing systemic issues - EU written statement

The reform of the global financial architecture touches on many areas and many of the issues are being discussed in different fora. The 4^th Conference for Financing for Development will have a fundamental role in bringing all these debates together and help avoid fragmentation and duplication of workstreams. The EU calls on multilateral organisations to work in partnerships and collaborate to set the direction for such negotiations.

A fundamental aspect of the financial architecture is the current reform of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) where the World Bank Group has led the process since 2021 with its Evolution Roadmap. Good progress has been achieved to move towards better, bigger and more effective MDBs addressing development and global challenges (such as climate change, biodiversity, pandemics and fragility and conflict) and maximising development impact. Eradicating poverty and tackling global challenges are mutually reinforcing to achieve the SDGs. MDBs are making good progress to enhance their financing capacity with the implementation of the recommendations of the G20 Capital Adequacy Frameworks (CAF) review which is expected result in an additional lending capacity of  USD 300-400 billion across the major MDBs over 10 years.  

More needs to be done to address development and global challenges. Given the huge needs, expanding the availability of concessional finance to support vulnerable partners, including vulnerable middle-income countries, remains crucial - but not at the expense of the poorest countries. In this regard, an ambitious IDA21 replenishment should be the priority to support the world’s poorest countries.

The EU calls for stronger partnership and cooperation among the MDBs. The first ever retreat of MDBs heads in the margins of the Spring Meetings and the publication in April of the Heads of MDBs Viewpoint Note “MDBs working as a system for impact and scale” was a good sign in this respect, as illustrated by the commitments to cooperate in five critical areas: scaling up MDB financing capacity; boosting joint action on climate change; strengthening country-level collaboration and co-financing; catalysing private-sector mobilisation; and enhancing development effectiveness and impact.

The EU also calls for more collaboration at country level, improving the implementation of country platforms and working towards mutual recognition and harmonisation of Environmental Social and procurement standards. MDBs should strengthen their cooperation with other multilateral organisations such as the IMF or the UN and with national public development banks. The EU also calls on the MDBs to engage in a more systematic way with the private sector and enhance private resources mobilisation.

The EU is now looking forward to the G20 Brazilian Presidency's G20 Roadmap for a better, bigger and more effective system of MDBs.

The EU welcomes the fact that the international community has exceeded the USD 100 billion global ambition of voluntary contributions (in Special Drawing Rights or other equivalent) from advanced to vulnerable countries set by G20 in 2021. It is crucial to deliver on these pledges and ensure that SDRs flow to vulnerable countries. EU Member States pledged USD 35.6 billion and are leading the way in transferring the resources to the IMF Trusts (i.e. the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust).

The Financing for Development Conference 2025 hosted by Spain will offer significant opportunities to shape the International Financial Architecture to achieve the SDGs.

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Roundtable 5 on Domestic Public Resources – EU written statement

Faced with declining growth prospects, rising debt servicing costs and shrinking fiscal space, many low and middle-income countries around the world are encountering difficulties to finance their public policies.

In this context, international cooperation on domestic revenue mobilisation needs to be further strengthened. Domestic resources remain the most predictable source of financing for development and are crucial for increasing countries’ resilience to external shocks. In 2021, the European Union and the other signatories of the Addis Tax Initiative Declaration 2025 renewed their commitment to double their support to domestic revenue mobilisation efforts by 2025. While the EU is playing its part – with the European Commission having achieved this target already in 2022 – the international community needs to keep the momentum and pursue its collective engagement in support of domestic revenue mobilisation beyond 2025.

At the same time, strong international cooperation is needed on the fight against illicit financial flows, which represent significant losses in domestic revenues. Last month, the European Commission, alongside four EU Member States, the African Union Commission, and numerous African stakeholders, launched an initiative on Fighting Illicit Financial Flows and related Transnational Organised Crime in Africa. With over 70 projects worth EUR 450 million, this initiative targets crime-related aspects such as money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as economic aspects including tax-motivated illicit financial flows and corruption.

It is also essential to focus not only on collecting more, but also on spending better. In that regard, countries need more efficient and effective public finance management systems to be able to respond to citizens’ needs in terms of education, health, social protection or basic infrastructure. The EU calls on like-minded Finance ministers to provide renewed political impetus to reduce inequalities and close the funding gap in social sectors along the line of commitments made, in particular at the Transforming Education Summit. Public finance management encompasses critical areas affecting public, but also private investment. For example, a competitive, transparent and accountable public procurement system is crucial not only for the quality and value-for-money of public investments, but also for the development of local private sector and the promotion of foreign investments. In addition, budget credibility and predictability, transparent budget preparation and execution, effective internal control and external scrutiny are essential to foster investor confidence. The EU promotes a comprehensive approach to public finance and supports partner countries in improving both the revenue and the expenditure sides of their fiscal policies through budget support and capacity development.

By supporting efficient resource collection, allocation and utilisation, fiscal policies can also be a powerful tool to advance SDGs, including gender equality, environmental protection or the fight against climate change. Gender-responsive and green PFM systems can indeed make a decisive contribution to reduce inequalities and promote sustainable resource management.

In that regard, integrated national financing frameworks (INFFs) are instrumental, as the tool allows to gear countries’ resources towards SDG objectives. Responding to the strong demand coming from EU partner countries, the European Commission and several EU Member States are financing the INFF Technical Assistance Facility to help countries design their INFFs. The EU also supports partner countries with the implementation of these frameworks.

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Roundtable 6 on Domestic and International Private Business and Finance – EU written statement

Achieving the SDGs requires the collaboration of public and private sectors, and the mobilisation of private sector investments, expertise, and innovation capabilities. It is key to achieve a real alignment of public and private financial flows with the SDGs, the Paris Agreement objectives and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This is at the heart of the Global Gateway Strategy, the EU’s contribution towards achieving the SDGs and support the green and digital transition. Since its launch in late 2021, the strategy is well underway, with ongoing work on approximately 225 flagship projects worldwide that contribute to the full range of SDGs.

The EU Global Gateway Strategy is a comprehensive 360° approach combining grants, concessional loans and guarantees to de-risk private sector investments and build infrastructure, and a number of strategic and operational tools such as technical assistance, policy and economic dialogue, trade and investment agreements and standardization, in order to create better conditions for quality investments. A conducive investment climate is essential to attract and retain private sector investments in sustainable development and achieving the SDGs.

The EU is engaging with private sector actors in Europe as well as in partner countries in several ways. The mission of the Global Gateway Business Advisory Group (BAG) is to assist to strengthen cooperation on the Global Gateway strategy with the European private sector. The EU Business Fora promote an active dialogue between public and private stakeholders, both local and European.

Furthermore, the EU has developed a toolbox for leveraging private finance. Besides traditional instruments to strengthen the private sector, such as the provision of technical assistance, capacity building or the promotion of Public-Private Partnerships, the EU has put in place innovative financial instruments to facilitate access to finance for sustainable private sector investments, such as blending finance instruments and guarantees, and sustainable finance.

The European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD+) offers guarantees and blending instruments through development financial institutions to catalyse private capital in frontier markets, where the risk is perceived as too high by investors.

The EU is promoting key initiatives to leverage additional private funding in partner countries through sustainable financial markets, building on the EU experience and acting as Team Europe. This includes the Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI) which will boost green bond markets in EU partner countries. By acting as an anchor investor in local green bond issuances, the GGBI fund will aim to attract additional private investment to each green bond issuance. So far, about EUR 1 billion of public investments have been committed to this initiative, which could in turn enable to attract private capital and support a total of EUR 15-20 billion in green bonds to finance sustainable investments globally.

There is a strong call from the international community including the G20 and IMF for building sustainable finance frameworks. Further, the need for credible and interoperable sustainable finance frameworks (taxonomies, disclosure requirements, standards) worldwide was identified and discussed in the context of the High-Level Expert Group on scaling-up sustainable finance. This expert group was mandated by the Commission to propose actionable and bold recommendations on how the European Commission can support the development of sustainable finance worldwide.

To this end, the EU together with its Member States, development agencies, DFIs but also with UN organisations, multilateral and international development partners and regional development banks will aim to meet the demand for technical assistance and support for sustainable finance in a coherent and coordinated manner through the Sustainable Finance Advisory Hub.

It is important to mobilise more and better financing for the SDGs. The European Union is dedicated to fostering an environment where businesses can thrive, innovate, and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

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Roundtable 7 on International Development Cooperation – EU written statement

There is an urgent need to scale up financing for the SDGs to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

The EU and its Member States play a fundamental role as the largest provider of ODA globally. EU collective ODA reached EUR 95.9 billion, accounting for 42% of global ODA in 2023. The EU and its Member States are also the largest provider of climate finance, contributing at least a third of the world’s public climate finance, which in 2022 reached the USD 100 billion goal for climate finance delivered for the first time. However, ODA and public finance are not sufficient in view of the scale of global challenges. It is crucial to attract the private sector and accelerate the flow of private finance towards sustainable investments globally. 

The EU is pursuing efforts to use ODA as a catalyst for private sector finance, in particular through the 2021 Global Gateway investment strategy, whose objective is to mobilise EUR 300 billion of investments to support the achievements of the SDGs. The implementation of the strategy is well underway, with work ongoing on approximately 225 flagship projects worldwide contributing to the full range of SDGs.

Global Gateway covers both hard connectivity --notably infrastructure, energy, digital-- and human development --notably health and education and research-- to create a multiplier effect. Furthermore, Global Gateway also fosters an enabling environment which includes support to accountability and effective reforms in the areas of good governance, public finance management and strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation, improving sustainable finance flows, and encouraging adherence to international standards for infrastructure spending.

Additionally, the EU is constructively engaging in a re-thinking of the international financing architecture to make its contribution fit for purpose to address today’s global challenges.

Discussions focused on the need to improve the international financial architecture have intensified over the past year in various fora – UN, G20, OECD, IMF and MDB’s boards. The EU has been fully engaged in several of these processes to achieve progress in areas under discussion including MDB reform, debt vulnerabilities and the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.

The EU supports a financial system that mobilises long-term investments to combat the climate crisis and ensure the achievement of all the SDGs, and calls on like-minded Finance ministers to provide the necessary impetus to reduce inequalities including through education and skills, and advance sustainable development ahead of key international Financing for Development engagements.

The international community must work together to deliver on a strong multilateral system that works for all. The fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 will be a fundamental milestone, offering the opportunity to influence the decision-making process and advance reforms.

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Roundtable 8 on Science, Technology, Innovation and Capacity-Building – EU written statement

The EU, through the Global Gateway strategy, is supporting partners countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, in their digital transition, contributing to closing the existent digital divide. Such investments include digital services, digital skills, innovation, data centres, last-mile networks, submarine cables, which support economic development, education & research and overall progress to SDGs.

The Global Gateway strategy enables the EU to collaborate with partner countries in unlocking investments based on a human-centric approach, through trusted, secure and green technologies. Furthermore, the strategy maximises the leverage of private sector resources through blending, PPP, and guarantee-type instrument.

As an example, the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) finances the Africa Connected Project with a EUR 100M guarantee to Finnfund which has a portfolio of digital infrastructure investments in Sub-Saharan Africa ranging from broadband telecoms, mobile network providers, fintech, and e-commerce.

Further, a financing partnership between the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will bring a total amount of 1.6 billion Euro for advancing global health. The European Commission will guarantee 500 million Euro in loans by the EIB, focusing on commercially viable private sector initiatives by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen health systems, primary health care R&D, production and marketing of vaccines, medicines and medical technology and skills. This will significantly contribute to making health innovations more accessible, increasing the security of pharmaceutical supply chains.

The EU is actively involved in supporting African countries in developing Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs Roadmaps. STI for SDGs Roadmaps aims to identify relevant STI investment opportunities with high social and environmental impact, providing guidance to policy makers and donors for targeted and tailored country support. The approach focuses on clearly identified intervention areas, aligned with stakeholders’ expectations.

The EU is committed to continuing efforts to achieve universal and meaningful digital connectivity targets for 2030, which are key for enabling digital transformation and meeting the SDGs. These targets aim to ensure that everyone has access to a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive and affordable online experience.

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Roundtable 9 on Data, Monitoring and Follow-up – EU written statement

The EU welcomes the launch of the International Forum on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD). As a data source for SDG indicator 17.3.1, TOSSD brings unprecedented transparency on financing for the SDGs, capturing all official flows and private amounts mobilised to support sustainable development. TOSSD is a comprehensive statistical framework to measure the full array of official resources and mobilised private finance supporting sustainable development. Noting that TOSSD provides activity-level information and tracks support for climate change mitigation, the EU encourages countries to take ownership over this comprehensive data framework to monitor resources supporting sustainable development worldwide.

TOSSD is an important improvement to the SDG indicator framework, where EU supports methodology development together with OECD. It includes a clear set of cascading sustainable development criteria to only count flows aligned with the SDGs. It contains 6 separate sub-indicators for data on a. Official sustainable development grants, b. Official concessional sustainable development loans, c. Official non-concessional sustainable development loans, d. Foreign direct investment, e. Mobilised private finance (MPF) on an experimental basis, and f. Private grants. UNCTAD and OECD as co-custodians have undertaken to ensure that there are no overlaps in global reporting for this indicator in cases where countries or multilaterals provide their information to both organisations.