Background
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the global blueprint for progress, and reaching them is a priority for both the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). However, progress towards the SDGs is seriously lagging behind. To drive real impact, localizing the SDGs is increasingly recognised not only as a success factor of sustainable development to date but also as one of the key accelerators moving forward, inter alia by promoting a leading role for local and regional authorities (LRAs), to implement the 2030 agenda. In particular, LRAs are not only central to localizing and achieving nearly two-thirds of the SDGs but also possess the local knowledge, adaptability, and integration capacity needed to deliver results on the ground. This critical role of LRAs is gaining increasing recognition both at the EU and UN level.
In the EU, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has long championed the role of LRAs in development cooperation, particularly through decentralised cooperation. The CoR has been working closely with the European Commission (especially the Directorate General for International Partnerships, DG INTPA) on this topic. The European Parliament but also the European Investment Bank are championing the SDGs as the reference framework for international cooperation, which has also been confirmed by the Council of the EU in successive conclusions of its Working Party on Agenda 2030.
Similarly, the UN has recognized SDG Localization as a key driver of progress and as an accelerator of the implementation of the 2030 agenda on the ground. For instance, within the Pact for the Future adopted at the UN Summit of the Future, SDG Localization is referenced as key lever to leave no one and no place behind while engagement with LRAs on the 2030 Agenda is considered an entry point to further follow up on. SDG Localization is also considered one of the high impact initiatives to accelerate progress on the six SDG transitions through the Local2030 Coalition, emphasizing how these transitions can be scaled through catalytic investments, supportive policies, and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
This convergence of views and actions on SDG localization materialized in the first EU-UN Policy Dialogue on SDG localization on 4 June 2024, gathering CoR members, European Commission and UN Directors, Member States and development bank representatives. The dialogue identified key messages on localization ahead of the 2024 HLPF and the UN Summit of the Future, as well as a roadmap for cooperation potentials focused on disseminating key messages and joint advocacy, engaging in capacity building exercises, and fostering joint training programs, among others.
This roadmap included the Fourth Financing for Development Conference as one of the key milestones to advance SDG localization on the global agenda in 2025, particularly with regard to localized finance. Indeed, the issue of financing localization remains one of the key challenges to achieving the 2030 Agenda. This has been documented by LRA within the EU and is even more acute at the international level. Lack of access to finances is directly hampering the catalyst potential of LRAs to drive impactful changes and to provide public services.
The reasons for these challenges are well known: the financial ecosystem is not conducive to supporting LRAs investments in local development, limited fiscal decentralisation and the capacity of LRAs are limited in many partner countries. At the international level, the decrease of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget in key member states coupled with efforts to mobilize the private sector and use of blending or guarantee instruments is taking development assistance and development finance further out of reach for many LRAs.
Although the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) acknowledged the critical role of LRAs in its point 34, discussions ahead of FfD4 risk downplaying this importance. Rolling back on LRA financing would not only undermine the AAAA’s commitments but also contradict the Pact for the Future, which reaffirmed LRAs as essential drivers of sustainable development.
Despite the challenges, actionable policy solutions exist. Supportto fiscal decentralisation, capacity building to access diverse financing mechanisms, specific city financing windows of development banks, or integrated local financing solutions have all been tested in practice. The next step is to share, consolidate and scale them up as well as to integrate them into global policymaking, ensuring that solutions are designed and implemented at the most effective and appropriate level of governance
Objectives
The second edition of the EU-UN Policy Dialogue aims to capitalize on the momentum built in 2024 and further strengthen the EU and UN common goal to:
This edition of the dialogue is a key milestone in the "Road to Seville: the Local Way" engagement strategy fostered by the United Nations Local2030 Coalition to elevate local finance as a priority ahead of FfD4. More specifically, the dialogue will be a stepping stone to consolidate positions in between the World Forum on Local Economic Development and FfD4.
The UN-EU Policy Dialogue will therefore gather key senior officials/representatives from the EU and the UN with the objectives of strengthening the case related to SDG localization and local finance, focusing on how these institutions can partner to leverage access to financing to European and international political leaderships. Members of the European Parliament, representatives of Development Banks and Member States, including the Polish Council Presidency, will be involved in linking the event to their ongoing efforts on the issue. The dialogue will do so by:
The tangible output of the dialogue will be a i) set of key messages and recommendations that can be used by each participating institution, and potentially presented at FfD4 and brought into other global processes on financing and ii) propositions for further joint actions.
