The UN Secretary General established the Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the broader Roadmap for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: 2019-2021. This document is the Task Force’s final report. Summarising the findings and recommendations developed and agreed by the Task Force since its inception in November 2018, it is based on an extensive engagement with stakeholders and research.
This report discusses today's digital financing of the SDGs, the benefits and difficulties from digital financing, and the Task Force's action agenda. It also provides next steps. Some key messages include:
- Digitalization can propel us towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs).
- Digital disruption creates an historic opportunity to reshape finance.
- Digitalization can have a transformative impact by empowering people in financing.
- Catalytic opportunities can harness digitalization in aligning finance with the SDGs.
- Barriers and digital risks need to be overcome in harnessing digitalization’s potential in financing the SDGs.
- Governance innovations are pre-conditions for harnessing digitalization in delivering financing of the SDGs.
- The UN can play a key role in realizing opportunities, overcoming barriers and mitigating risks in harnessing digitalization in financing the SDGs.
- The historic opportunity to harness digitalization in reshaping finance must be grasped now.