World leaders, financiers and development partners are gearing up for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), set to take place from June 30 to July 3, 2025, in Sevilla, Spain. 

A once-in-a-decade gathering, FFD4 is coming at a pivotal moment, when shifting geopolitics, debt crisis and mounting climate impacts are driving a transformation in global financial systems. Trade imbalances, spiraling debt, climate devastation are fueling instability and conflict, and donor countries are questioning the value of providing development aid (often called official development assistance or ODA) to emerging economies. 

The annual financing gap to achieve the SDGs now exceeds US$4.3 trillion. Yet, global wealth surpasses $450 trillion – making it clear that the gap is one of financial alignment, not availability. 

There is significant potential to fill this gap if development actors and the holders of that wealth come together.

Concurrently, developing economies are beginning to chart their own pathways towards their sustainable development targets and global commitments like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions to halt climate change. 

But they cannot do it alone: these countries are calling upon multilateral partners such as UNDP to support them in reducing investment risk and designing innovative financing solutions that meet their unique needs.

FFD4 therefore presents a crucial opportunity: led by countries, the conference is bringing together diverse partners to create a financial architecture that delivers social and environmental, as well as financial returns.

The alignment of finance and sustainable development began long before Sevilla. A decade ago, FFD3 led to the historic Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in which UN Member States committed to a more inclusive international financial architecture. 

This involved fostering nationally owned sustainable development strategies. Since then, UNDP has been supporting governments in designing integrated national financing frameworks (INFFs); 86 are now being planned or implemented, and more than 50 countries are implementing policy reformed shaped by their INFFs. 

Building on the INFF process, UNDP and its partners are supporting emerging economies to reform public financing systems and attract private capital for inclusive and just transitions.

UNDP’s SDG Investor Maps in more than 45 countries have identified more than 700 SDG-focused investment opportunity areas. In Serbia, an SDG Investor Map helped to facilitate private investment of more than EUR 2 million in the country’s green energy transition. In Nigeria, UNDP’s partnerships with the public and private sector were instrumental in securing $15 million for investment in SDG-aligned startups through the Pipeline Builder initiative. This successful initiative is now being scaled across Africa to connect private investors with impact-driven enterprises.

UNDP works with a range of public and private partners to de-risk investments by facilitating policies and institutions that promote transparency, rule of law, and accountability. UNDP also works with the insurance industry to expand insurance coverage to vulnerable communities and strengthens national capacities to manage financial risk.

Our partnerships with governments and the insurance industry are expanding insurance markets to reach the most vulnerable communities, while building capacity to manage financial risk.

In Ethiopia, UNDP is facilitating a parametric insurance solution aimed at protecting 50,000 smallholder coffee farmers from climate risks while expanding their access to global markets for specialty coffee. This initiative aims to unlock $10 million in investments from international coffee buyers and exporters and tap into risk-sharing instruments with the goal of mobilizing up to €135 billion.

Innovative partnerships such as these can unlock new financing opportunities for emerging economies – using ODA as a catalyst to unlock development financing. According to the recent report Sustainable Finance at UNDP, for every US$1 of funding received between 2022 and 2024, UNDP promoted nearly $60 in investments towards the SDGs and climate targets. 

FFD4 marks a turning point, where development and global finance are converging. The Sevilla Platform for Action will launch a bold agenda for inclusive financing that drives sustainable and inclusive growth. The Platform will be announced at FFD4, involving coalitions of countries and other stakeholders with initiatives aimed at making measurable progress on financing the SDGs.

This active country-led process shows that developing economies are beginning to drive the sustainable development agenda, supported by multilateral organizations like UNDP and their diverse coalitions of partners. 

FFD4 is providing an impetus for development and finance institutions to jointly provide developing economies with the tools to finance their own sovereign sustainability targets.  Together, UNDP and our partners are creating a financing architecture that bridges the $4.3 billion financing gap and improves the lives of billions of people.

Watch UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner speak on UNDP's important role at FFD4 here. 

Learn about UNDP-hosted FFD4 side events here.