Inputs to the Outcome Document

The global finance landscape remains fragmented, insufficient, and not fit-for-purpose, limiting access for developing countries most in need. Urgent reforms are required to simplify access, scale up concessional finance, and mobilize private sector capital through blended finance mechanisms. Strengthening country ownership and improving transparency across financial flows are key priorities. The Fourth Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) should advocate for these reforms to close the sustainable development finance gap and accelerate progress toward global goals, especially for vulnerable and low-income countries. FFD4 must be the running point that transforms global financing landscape into a truly inclusive, scalable, impactable, fit-for-purpose and sustainable engine for achieving the SDGs, Post-2015 development Agenda, and Paris Agreement goals by 2030.

This brief offers a global overview of health spending and highlights the critical role of health expenditure data in shaping policies to achieve the SDG health targets. It calls on countries and global partners to strengthen health expenditure tracking via health accounts to improve policymaking, enhance transparency, and promote accountability.

This policy brief explores innovative approaches to mobilizing climate finance, focusing on both public and private sector contributions. It highlights the urgent need for scalable finance solutions, given global economic volatility and rising debt levels in developing countries. Key solutions include unlocking alternative funding sources, leveraging debt restructuring, scaling blended finance, and utilizing innovative financial instruments. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) plays a critical role in catalyzing such investments and driving climate action, particularly in support of the most vulnerable.

The global financial system faces critical challenges, particularly for developing countries, including debt crises and financing gaps. Intensified South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC) can offer innovative policy solutions. Recommendations include scaling up debt management strategies, upscaling innovative solutions, strengthening regional development banks, and creating regional infrastructure bonds to pool risks and lower borrowing costs. Expanding contingency financing mechanisms and establishing data-sharing platforms are essential for financial stability. FFD4 presents a key opportunity to advance these SSTrC-driven initiatives for sustainable development.

Financing the Pathway Towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Improving Health Sector Priority Setting

This brief argues that taxation policies on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks present a timely and effective strategy for advancing sustainable development while improving public health and well-being. Health taxes not only generate government revenue through higher tax rates but also promote healthier behaviors, leading to improved health outcomes and productivity gains that benefit society as a whole. Over the next five years, increases in tobacco, alcohol, and SSB taxes could generate an additional $3.7 trillion USD in government revenues globally—an average of $740 billion USD per year, equivalent to 12% of global health budgets and 0.75% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Financing for Sustainable Progress to Universal Health Coverage