WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged world leaders on Tuesday to turn the picture of sustainable development from aspiration into reality as they gather in New York this week to chalk out a future plan of action.

In a similar statement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminded the international community that achieving the sustainable development goals would “require an even stronger global partnership, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships to mobilise and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources.”

The Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda is taking place in New York from Sept 25 to 27. A new development agenda, “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” will be adopted at the New York summit.

Earlier this week, the secretary-general launched the Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force Report 2015, which focuses on recent achievements and gaps in the implementation of these goals.

“Countries should drive their own development, but working together, the international community can turn the picture of sustainable development … from aspiration into reality,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

To achieve this, she emphasised the need to make inclusive policies aimed spreading the benefits equitably, fix fossil fuel energy prices and to address environmental sustainability.

In a discussion at the Brookings on the new sustainable development goals, Ms Lagarde said, “It is no good using beautiful words without following them up with action. It is important to draw lessons from what we do wrong, as well as what we do right.”

The IMF also published a research paper with some policy advice they believe will help countries hit targets set out by the ambitious development agenda over the course of the next 15 years.

The study notes that “policies that foster economic transformation, economic and social inclusion, and protect the environment are of paramount importance for sustainable development.”

The paper, “From Ambition to Execution: Policies in Support of Sustainable Development Goals”, examines the care for promoting economic diversification through structural reforms.

The authors note that by diversifying their economy, developing countries can shift workers from low productivity agriculture into higher productivity sectors, like manufacturing, trade and services, which create higher paying jobs in the long term and help improve living standards.

The paper commends Indonesia, Malaysia, and Mexico for moving away from oil production by improving the business environment and supporting workers in acquiring relevant skills.

The study stresses the importance of economic and social inclusion, saying all levels of society -- men and women equally -- should benefit from economic growth.

It also says that by increasing tax revenues, cutting wasteful spending and strengthening the efficiency of public service delivery, developing countries could increase social spending to help them achieve their redistributive goals. The paper says a fair tax system also plays an important role in improving equity.

The study highlights the potential benefits of reducing poorly targeted energy subsidies. It notes that raising energy prices to reflect actual cost would cut global carbon dioxide emissions by a quarter, air pollution related deaths by three-fifths, and yield revenues of up to 8 per cent of GDP on average in some countries.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd , 2015

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