Party is over for the SDGS
by Adriano Campolina
The Pope has left the UN and the traffic in Manhattan is back to
normal. The hoard of government delegations, NGOs and CSO
representatives are packing up and the press is moving on. The party’s
over for the Sustainable Development Goals.
For such ambitious goals to be achieved, leaders will need to turn
their promises on inequality into policies that will deliver real
change. One day after the deal was done, I had a glimpse of how hard it
will be to convince the world’s leaders. Attending a meeting on growth
as part of the official SDG agenda, I was surprised the narrative of
free trade and mega-investments continued to flow unbounded from
governments.
Meaningless chatter
But here lies the catch. Corporations are not just stalking the
corridors of the UN and promoting investments damaging to the poor, they
also have a stranglehold on how countries raise tax, which will enable
them to pay for the goals.
ActionAid research last month discovered tax incentives given to big
corporations in West Africa drain the region of an estimated 9.6 billion
dollars a year – money which could be spent on health and education. And
globally, it is estimated that developing countries lose over US$200
billion a year from corporate tax dodging.
Yet, rich countries continue to block moves for a global body on tax
to make the rules fairer.The 800 million people in poverty worldwide
need change. In many ways, people are ahead of the UN as they’re doing
it without flashy launch events or concerts. Across Africa, people have
been mobilized and fought for the right to free primary school
education, with massive wins.
To achieve real change for poor people, the business as usual
approach I saw at the UN over the last few days won’t be good enough.
The climate conference in Paris in December will be the first test. If
world leaders do not commit to emissions cuts and agree to financing to
help developing countries with climate impacts, then success for the
goals will be off to a very shaky start.
Adriano Campolina is the Chief Executive of ActionAid International.
-IPS
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