Financing the Sustainable Development Goals

Lessons from government spending on the MDGs

Publication date: 10 June 2015
Author: Matthew Martin, Development Finance International Jo Walker, Development Finance International

Spending by governments is falling short of what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by one-third – and beyond 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals will require at least $1.5 trillion extra a year. Based on lessons from tracking country budgets, this report looks at how the SDGs should be financed and suggests: doubling tax revenue; radically overhauling global tax rules; doubling concessional development cooperation and improving allocation and effectiveness of financing; and raising $500bn in public innovative financing. To have a chance of achieving the SDGs, spending also needs to be reoriented to fight inequality, and be much more transparent and accountable to the world’s citizens.