Speaker at Seville conference warns 2030 development agenda is at risk, calls for overhaul of global finance

Speaker at a conference in Seville warned that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is in danger and called for sweeping reforms to global development finance, saying faster resource flows, debt-system fixes and greater participation for developing countries are needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

The speaker said the world faces “massive headwinds” including a slowing global economy, rising trade tensions and shrinking aid budgets, and that these pressures are putting development progress at risk. “We are living in a world where trust is fraying and multilateralism is strained,” the speaker said.

Two-thirds of the Sustainable Development Goals targets are lagging, the speaker said, and reaching them requires substantially more investment. “Achieving them requires an investment of more than $4 trillion a year,” the speaker said, adding that the shortfall is a “crisis of people, of families going hungry, of children going unvaccinated.”

The speaker outlined three areas of action. First, countries must get resources flowing faster by mobilizing domestic revenue, strengthening tax systems, tackling illicit financial flows and directing revenue to high-impact sectors such as schools, health care, social protection, decent work and renewable energy. The speaker urged developed countries to increase aid targeted to domestic resource mobilization and called for innovative funding that better combines public and private finance and mitigates currency risk.

Second, the speaker called for fixing the global debt system, which was described as “unsustainable, unfair, and unaffordable.” The speaker cited annual debt-service obligations of about $1.4 trillion and proposed measures including a single debt registry for transparency, lower borrowing costs through debt swaps and management support, and mechanisms for fair and timely debt restructuring and emergency debt-service pauses.

Third, the speaker urged increasing the participation of developing countries in global financial institutions, saying major shareholders should work to correct “injustices” and adapt institutions to a changing world. The speaker proposed a new borrowers forum to give debtor countries a voice in debt resolution, promote transparency and coordinate action, and called for a fairer global tax system “shaped by all, not just by a few.”

The speaker framed the conference as an effort to “repair and rev up the engine of development” rather than an act of charity, emphasizing investment in the future and restoring fairness so people can “live in dignity.”

No formal resolutions or votes were recorded during this speech.

The remarks occurred during a plenary session in Seville and focused on financing and governance reforms to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.