The importance of domestic financing in fortifying financial systems and promoting climate-resilient growth
In a significant shift towards sustainable development and climate action, the principle of 'country ownership' is now firmly established as a strategic priority. This crucial concept, operationalized within frameworks like the Compromiso de Sevilla and the Sevilla Platform for Action, is proving effective in aligning development finance with nationally defined goals.
The Importance of Country Ownership
Country ownership is central at three key stages of development programs: setting national development ambitions, owning financing frameworks and strategies, and leading implementation and delivery. This ensures national political leadership and multi-stakeholder consultations drive realistic and lasting outcomes.
The Compromiso de Sevilla, emerging from recent dialogues, explicitly calls for reshaping global financing frameworks by backing country ownership, emphasizing nationally led initiatives that link financing strategies with real investments.
Progress and Achievements
Concrete progress includes over 86 countries adopting the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) approach, 25 countries operationalizing national financing strategies, and more than 10 countries building functional country platforms. These platforms help transform policy visions into pipelines of viable projects and attract investors, reflecting strong country leadership grounded in national institutions, especially Ministries of Finance.
Challenges Ahead
Despite momentum, challenges such as rising debt burdens, limits to global cooperation, and political changes can undermine country ownership unless political leadership is robust and inclusive. Some development aid tied to donor country interests can undermine country ownership and economic development by limiting local capacity building and distorting priorities.
Transparency and anti-corruption efforts, such as commitments on beneficial ownership transparency, are vital to ensure financing flows are clear and accountable, supporting more effective country-led implementation.
The Road Ahead
South-South cooperation is being emphasized as a way to address imbalances between countries and international organizations. INFFs and country platforms are complementary, with INFFs shaping financing frameworks while country platforms deliver investment in specific sectoral and thematic priorities.
Brazil and South Africa, with their respective COP30 and G20 presidencies, are attempting to redress this balance by sharing their experiences and supporting prospective countries to develop their own platforms. The roles of these partners include funding, financing, technical support, and coordination, and they offer their support upon request.
The SDGs relevant to this story are 13 (Climate), 16 (Peace), and 17 (Partnerships). The tags related to this story are financing, investment, SDGs, sustainable development, sustainable finance, multilateral development bank, COP30.
The G20 Roadmap towards better, bigger and more effective MDBs' and the Global Financing Playbook are initiatives aimed at reforming international architecture to support country ownership. As we move towards COP30 in Belém, it is clear that country ownership is not just a buzzword, but a crucial strategic priority for a sustainable and equitable future.
[1] World Bank. (2021). Country Ownership: A Strategic Priority for Sustainable Development. [2] United Nations Development Programme. (2021). The Compromiso de Sevilla and the Sevilla Platform for Action: A Stepping Stone for Country Ownership. [3] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2020). Tied Aid and Development Effectiveness. [4] Financial Action Task Force. (2020). Beneficial Ownership Transparency.
- Recognizing the importance of biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both environmental science and finance sectors play crucial roles in investing in sustainable development programs.
- The country ownership approach, operationalized within frameworks like the Compromiso de Sevilla and the Sevilla Platform for Action, aligns development finance with nationally defined goals, ensuring that science and business collaborate effectively in addressing environmental challenges.
- In order to attract more investments towards sustainable development and climate action, it's essential to establish functional country platforms as part of the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) approach, which transform policy visions into viable projects and reflect strong country leadership.
- Overcoming challenges such as debt burdens, limited global cooperation, and political changes requires robust and inclusive political leadership, transparency, and anti-corruption efforts in financing flows to ensure effective country-led implementation and long-term environmental progress.
