‘Poverty eradication - greatest global challenge’ - Part XI:

Importance of national policies, resource allocation

Text of the final declaration issued by the world community at the conclusion of the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Summit recently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Our Common Vision Means of implementation

252. We reaffirm that the means of implementation identified in Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development are indispensable for achieving full and effective translation of sustainable development commitments into tangible sustainable development outcomes.

We reiterate that each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development and that the role of national policies, domestic resources and development strategies cannot be overemphasized.

We reaffirm that developing countries need additional resources for sustainable development. We recognize the need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and effective use of financing, in order to promote sustainable development. We acknowledge that good governance and the rule of law at the national and international levels are essential for sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth, sustainable development and the eradication of poverty and hunger.

A. Finance

253. We call on all countries to prioritize sustainable development in the allocation of resources in accordance with national priorities and needs, and we recognize the crucial importance of enhancing financial support from all sources for sustainable development for all countries, in particular developing countries. We recognize the importance of international, regional and national financial mechanisms including those accessible to sub-national and local authorities to implement sustainable development programmes and call for their strengthening and implementation. New partnerships and innovative sources of financing can play a role in complementing sources of financing for sustainable development. We encourage their further exploration and use, alongside the traditional means of implementation.

254. We recognize the need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and effective use of financing, to give strong support to developing countries in their efforts to promote sustainable development, including through actions undertaken according to the outcome of UN Conference on Sustainable Development and for achieving sustainable development goals.

255. We agree to establish an intergovernmental process under the United Nations General Assembly, with technical support from the UN System, and in open and broad consultation with relevant international and regional financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders. The process will assess financing needs, consider the effectiveness, consistency and synergies of existing instruments and frameworks, and evaluate additional initiatives, with a view to prepare a report proposing options on an effective Sustainable Development Financing Strategy to facilitate the mobilization of resources and their effective use in achieving sustainable development objectives.

256. An intergovernmental committee, comprising thirty experts nominated by regional groups, with equitable geographical representation, will implement this process, concluding its work by 2014.

257. We request the General Assembly to consider this report and take appropriate actions.

258. We recognize that the fulfilment of all ODA commitments is crucial, including the commitments by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of GNP for ODA to developing countries by 2015, as well as a target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNP for ODA to least developed countries. To reach their agreed timetables, donor countries should take all necessary and appropriate measures to raise the rate of aid disbursements to meet their existing commitments. We urge those developed countries that have not yet done so to make additional concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 percent of GNP for ODA to developing countries, including the specific target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNP for ODA to least developed countries, in accordance with their commitments. To build on progress achieved in ensuring that ODA is used effectively, we stress the importance of democratic governance, improved transparency and accountability, and managing for results.

We strongly encourage all donors to establish, as soon as possible, rolling indicative timetables that illustrate how they aim to reach their goals, in accordance with their respective budget allocation process. We stress the importance of mobilizing greater domestic support in developed countries towards the fulfillment of their commitments, including through raising public awareness, and by providing data on the development impact of aid provided and demonstrating tangible results.

259. We welcome increasing efforts to improve the quality of ODA and to increase its development impact. We also recognize the need to improve development effectiveness, increase programme-based approaches, use country systems for activities managed by the public sector, reduce transaction costs and improve mutual accountability and transparency and, in this regard, we call upon all donors to untie aid to the maximum extent.

We will further make development more effective and predictable by providing developing countries with regular and timely, indicative information on planned support in the medium term. We recognize the importance of efforts by developing countries to strengthen leadership of their own development, national institutions, systems and capacity to ensure the best results of effective development by engaging with Parliaments and citizens in shaping those policies and deepening engagement with civil society organizations. We should also bear in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all formula that will guarantee development effectiveness. The specific situation of each country needs to be fully considered.

260. We note that the aid architecture has significantly changed in the current decade. New aid providers and novel partnership approaches, which utilize new modalities of cooperation, have contributed to increasing the flow of resources. Further, the interplay of development assistance with private investment, trade and new development actors provides new opportunities for aid to leverage private resource flows. We reiterate our support for South-South cooperation, as well as triangular cooperation, which provides much needed additional resources to the implementation of development programmes.

We recognize the importance and different history and particularities of South-South cooperation and stress that South-South cooperation should be seen as an expression of solidarity and cooperation between countries, based on their shared experiences and objectives. Both forms of cooperation support a development agenda that addresses the particular needs and expectations of developing countries. We also recognize that South-South cooperation complements rather than substitutes for North-South cooperation. We acknowledge the role played by middle-income developing countries as providers and recipients of development cooperation.

261. We invite the international financial institutions, within their respective mandates, to continue providing financial resources, including through specific mechanisms for the promotion of sustainable development and poverty eradication in developing countries.

262. We recognize that greater coherence and coordination among the various funding mechanisms and initiatives related to sustainable development is crucial. We reiterate the importance of ensuring that developing countries have steady and predictable access to adequate financing from all sources to promote sustainable development.

263. We recognize that ongoing serious global financial and economic challenges carry the possibility of undoing years of hard work and gains made in relation to the debt of developing countries. We further recognize the need to assist developing countries in ensuring long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate.

264. We stress the need for adequate funding for the operational activities of the United Nations development system as well as the need to make funding more predictable, effective and efficient as part of wider efforts to mobilize new, additional and predictable resources to achieve the objectives that we have set forth in this Declaration.

265. We recognize the important achievements of the GEF over the last twenty years in funding environmental projects and welcome important reform processes that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has carried out during recent years and we call for its further improvement and encourage the GEF to take additional steps within its mandate to make resources more accessible to meet country needs for the national implementation of their international environmental commitments. We support further simplification of procedures and assistance to developing countries, in particular in assisting the least developed countries, Africa and SIDS in accessing resources from the GEF, and enhanced coordination with other instruments and programmes focusing on environmentally sustainable development.

266. We stress that fighting corruption and illicit financial flows at both the national and international levels is a priority and that corruption is a serious barrier to effective resource mobilization and allocation and diverts resources away from activities that are vital for poverty eradication, the fight against hunger and sustainable development. We are determined to take urgent and decisive steps to continue to combat corruption in all of its manifestations, which requires strong institutions at all levels, and urge all States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and begin its implementation.

267. We consider that innovative financing mechanisms can make a positive contribution in assisting developing countries to mobilize additional resources for financing for development on a voluntary basis. Such financing should supplement and not be a substitute for traditional sources of financing. While recognizing the considerable progress in innovative sources of financing for development, we call for scaling-up of present initiatives, where appropriate.

268. We recognize that a dynamic, inclusive, well-functioning, socially and environmentally responsible private sector is a valuable instrument that can offer a crucial contribution to economic growth and reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development. In order to foster private-sector development, we shall continue to pursue appropriate national policy and regulatory frameworks in a manner consistent with national laws to encourage public and private initiatives, including at the local level, to foster a dynamic and well-functioning business sector, and to facilitate entrepreneurship and innovation including among women, the poor and the vulnerable. We will work to improve income growth and distribution, inter alia through raising productivity, empowering women and protecting labour rights, and taxation. We recognize that the appropriate role of Government in relation to the promotion and regulation of the private sector will vary from country to country depending on national circumstances.

B. Technology

269. We emphasize the importance of technology transfer to developing countries and recall the provisions on technology transfer, finance, access to information, and intellectual property rights as agreed in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, in particular its call to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, access to and the development, transfer and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how, in particular to developing countries, on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed. We also take note of the further evolution of discussions and agreements on these issues since the JPOI.

270. We stress the importance of access by all countries to environmentally sound technologies, new knowledge, know-how and expertise. We further stress the importance of cooperative action on technology innovation, research and development. We agree to explore modalities in the relevant fora for enhanced access to environmentally sound technologies by developing countries.

271. We underline the need for enabling environments for the development, adaptation, dissemination, and transfer of environmentally sound technologies. In this context, we note the role of foreign direct investment, international trade and international cooperation in the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. We engage in our countries as well as through international cooperation to promote investment in science, innovation, and technology for sustainable development.

272. We recognize the importance of strengthened national, scientific and technological capacities for sustainable development. This can help countries, especially developing countries, to develop their own innovative solutions, scientific research and new, environmentally sound technologies, with the support of the international community. To this end, we support building science and technology capacity, with both women and men as contributors and beneficiaries, including through collaboration among research institutions, universities, the private sector, governments, non-governmental organizations, and scientists.

273. We request relevant UN agencies to identify options for a facilitation mechanism that promotes the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies by, inter alia, assessing technology needs of developing countries, options to address them and capacity building. We request the UN Secretary General, on the basis of the options identified and taking into account existing models, to make recommendations regarding the facilitation mechanism to the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly.

274. We recognize the importance of space-technology-based data, in situ monitoring, and reliable geospatial information for sustainable development policy-making, programming and project operations. In this context, we note the relevance of global mapping and recognize the efforts in developing global environmental observing systems, including by the Eye on Earth network and through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. We recognize the need to support developing countries in their efforts to collect environmental data.

275. We recognize the importance of strengthening international, regional and national capacities in research and technology assessment, especially in view of the rapid development and possible deployment of new technologies that may also have unintended negative impacts, in particular on biodiversity and health, or other unforeseen consequences.

276. We recognize the need to facilitate informed policy decision-making on sustainable development issues and in this regard to strengthen the science-policy interface.

C. Capacity building

277. We emphasize the need for enhanced capacity building for sustainable development and, in this regard, we call for strengthening technical and scientific cooperation including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation. We reiterate the importance of human resource development, including training, exchange of experiences and expertise, knowledge transfer and technical assistance for capacity-building, which involves strengthening institutional capacity, including planning, management and monitoring capacities.

278. We call for the continued and focused implementation of the UNEP Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity Building.

279. We encourage the participation and representation of men and women scientists and researchers from developing and developed countries in processes related to global environmental and sustainable development assessment and monitoring, with the purpose of enhancing national capabilities and the quality of research for decision- and policy-making processes.

280. We invite all relevant agencies of the United Nations system and other relevant international organizations to support developing countries and, in particular, least developed countries in capacity-building for developing resource-efficient and inclusive economies, including through:

(a) sharing sustainable practices in various economic sectors;

(b) enhancing knowledge and capacity to integrate disaster risk reduction and resilience into development plans;

(c) supporting North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation for the transition to a resource efficient economy; and

(d) promoting public-private partnerships.

D. Trade

281. We reaffirm that international trade is an engine for development and sustained economic growth, and also reaffirm the critical role that a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system, as well as meaningful trade liberalization, can play in stimulating economic growth and development worldwide, thereby benefiting all countries at all stages of development, as they advance towards sustainable development. In this context, we remain focused on achieving progress in addressing a set of important issues, such as, inter alia, trade distorting subsidies and trade in environmental goods and services.

282. We urge the Members of the WTO to redouble their efforts to achieve an ambitious, balanced and development-oriented conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda, while respecting the principles of transparency, inclusiveness and consensual decision-making, with a view to strengthen the multilateral trading system.

In order to effectively participate in the WTO work programme and fully realize trade opportunities, developing countries need assistance and enhanced cooperation of all relevant stakeholders.

E. Registry of commitments

283. We welcome the commitments voluntarily entered into at Rio+20 and throughout 2012 by all stakeholders and their networks to implement concrete policies, plans, programmes, projects and actions to promote sustainable development and poverty eradication. We invite the Secretary-General to compile these commitments and facilitate access to other registries that have compiled commitments, in an Internet-based registry.

The registry should make information about the commitments fully transparent and accessible to the public, and it should be periodically updated.

Concluded