Countdown to September summit on SDGs

After three years of hectic negotiations, countries of the world have apparently reached a consensus on implementing the new development blueprint termed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The member states of the  United Nations (UN), numbering 193, agreed on August 02 that they would formally adopt the SDGs in the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in upcoming September. The SDGs are to be achieved over the next 15 years - from 2016 to 2030.
The UN has opened a public consultation process under which different stakeholders can give their feedback and suggestions on the final draft of the SDGs. The draft contains different indicators, in a matrix form, of 169 targets of 17 proposed goals. As UN members have already agreed on `17 goals and 169 targets', the public consultation process, open until September 07, will allow feedback on indicators only.
'EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE': Some stakeholders were in favour of a smaller number of goals and targets. The Copenhagen Consensus Centre, an international research organisation, campaigned energetically for this. Headed by Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish author and environmentalist, the organisation published in 18 months  over 100 analyses by 82 economists and 44 sector experts. In these analyses, efforts were made to determine the value-for-money of the proposed targets. The organisation formed a panel of experts, which included two Nobel Laureates, to review these analyses. The panel identified 19 'smartest targets that represent the best value-for-money' in the SDGs process. It claimed that annual return from investment of $1.0 in these targets would be more than $15 on average.
It was also argued that 169 targets imply pledging 'everything for everyone' which gives no direction. The root of success, though below the expectation, of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) lies on limited goals and targets (eight goals and 21 targets with 60 indicators).
The proposed 169 targets of the SDGs are accompanied by 304 indicators, as released by the UN for consultation. On the basis of feedbacks, the number of indicators may be reduced. Even then, keeping the track of such a large number of indictors will be very challenging.
BANGLADESH'S PROPOSALS: In 2013 Bangladesh made a SDG proposal which comprised of '11 goals, 58 targets and 241 measurable indicators'. The country clearly opted for a smaller number of targets on the basis of its experience in implementing MDGs.  
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS: Copenhagen Consensus Centre tried to establish that SDGs process needed to be designed and implemented through the framework of welfare economics. So it made a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed targets to find out how many of those would bring value for money. This was a daunting task. Though the calculated value of cost and benefit of each target was not universally accepted, the exercise clearly revealed the importance of value-for-money in the SDGs.  To be precise, it was the utility derived from every sum of money spent and it was not only the maximum money but also the maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the spending.
Value-for-money calculation, as done by the centre, showed that if the world spent $2.5 trillion on 169 proposed targets, it would return $7.0  against per dollar spent.  But, for a reduced target of 40, the same amount would pay back over $30 for each dollar invested.      
In fact, policymakers in many countries are yet to fully grasp the long-term impact of spending on SDGs. There is still a lack of understanding  about the process among people across the world.  
FINANCING THE DEVELOPMENT: The UN has estimated that $172.5 trillion is required for implementing SDGs over a period of 15 years. UNCTAD (UN Commission for Trade and Development) estimation shows that the yearly financing gap for developing countries will be $2.5 trillion. Current annual investment of these countries is $1.4 trillion against the required development finance worth $4.0 trillion. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has estimated that Asia and the Pacific region will require at least $1.0 trillion annually to finance the targets of the SDGs while the official development assistance (ODA) to the region is still below $30 billion.  
ADDIS ABABA DECLARATION: The Addis Ababa Declaration, adopted in July this year in the third global conference on Financing for Development held in the Ethiopian capital, comes with a set of mechanisms in this regard. In broad term, it stresses on public-private partnership (PPP), domestic resource mobilisation and external assistance. Thus, there is no innovative device for financing.  
In the conference, developing and developed countries were at loggerheads over introducing a strong global tax authority. Developed countries, led by the United States, not only rejected a proposal for a global tax body but also dismissed developing countries' compromise proposal to strengthen the existing UN committee of tax experts. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, strongly criticised the US stance which, he said, was to 'keep things the same as in the past, with global governance by and for the advanced countries.'
The agreed PPP mechanism has already drawn strong criticism from different development activists across the world. They argue that the experience of PPP is not good, especially when it is linked with development process. They also mention that relying on PPP without recommending adequate safeguard and compliance on international labour and environmental standards would bring little positive result. The blended financing instrument, mooted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), will bring some $25.4-billion fund. Expectation is that that the financing will have multiplier effect by attracting more private funds. But, fear is that the complexity in this mechanism may turn it non-productive in the long run.  
Finally, Addis Ababa Declaration is not a commitment, let alone a binding commitment, but appears to be a `best endeavour' document. To put it simply, all, especially the developed world, will hopefully try their best to enhance their cooperation to finance the SDGs. The countdown has begun to September summit on SDGs with this trust in the good intention of all concerned.    
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