Development Co-operation Report 2016
The Sustainable Development Goals as Business Opportunities
The face of development has changed, with diverse stakeholders involved – and implicated – in what are more and more seen as global and interlinked concerns. At the same time, there is an urgent need to mobilise unprecedented resources to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The private sector can be a powerful promotor of sustainable development. Companies provide jobs, infrastructure, innovation and social services, among others. Increasingly, investments in developing countries – even in the least developed countries – are seen as business opportunities, despite the risks involved. The public sector can leverage the private sector contribution, helping to manage risk and providing insights into effective policy and practice. Yet in order to set the right incentives, a better understanding is needed of the enabling factors, as well as the constraints, for businesses and investors interested in addressing sustainable development challenges.
The Development Co-operation Report 2016 explores the potential and challenges of investing in developing countries, in particular through social impact investment, blended finance and foreign direct investment. The report provides guidance on responsible business conduct and outlines the challenges in mobilising and measuring private finance to achieve the SDGs. Throughout the report, practical examples illustrate how business is already promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth in developing countries. Part II of the report showcases the profiles and performance of development co-operation providers, and presents DAC statistics on official and private resource flows.
Also available in: French
Measuring private finance mobilised for sustainable development
The OECD is working on ways to monitor and measure private resources mobilised through public sector interventions. This is of great importance in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals: improving the tracking of these resources will increase transparency while also encouraging their use to mobilise further resources. This chapter provides an overview of the work underway and outlines some of the methodological challenges involved. It also presents the findings of a recent survey that focused on private sector finance mobilised through guarantees, syndicated loans and shares in collective investment vehicles between 2012 and 2014. It concludes with a set of key recommendations.Challenge piece by Jeff Chelsky, World Bank. Opinion pieces by Pierre Jacquet, Global Development Network; Philippe Orliange, Agence Française de Développement.
Also available in: French