Jakarta. Indonesia recently warned G20 economies of a multi-trillion-dollar financing gap that could derail the global dream of having a better and more prosperous planet.

The foreign ministers of the world’s 20 leading economies gathered for a meeting presided over by South Africa on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's 80th session in New York on Thursday morning local time. The clock is ticking on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -- a set of targets that countries have pledged to achieve by 2030. The goals include reducing poverty and hunger, while also ensuring that everyone has access to affordable energy and cleaner air as the world works to cut emissions. Amidst a nearing deadline, Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono told his G20 counterparts of a $4 trillion financing gap.

"We must recognize the urgency of addressing the financing gap. The SDGs require $4 trillion annually, and the absence of innovation and reform will only widen the gap," Sugiono said. 

“We need new and innovative sources of finance. Multilateral development banks must be reformed to serve the needs of developing countries,” he added.

UN’s estimates revealed that the said financing gap was only 1 percent of the global wealth. Indonesia alone requires around $8.7 trillion to meet its 2030 SDG targets, leaving a $1.7 trillion financing gap, according to the UN Joint SDG Fund. 

Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has received grants and other forms of funding from its partners and international lenders to expedite its SDGs. Just last year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) greenlit a $419.6 million loan to help Indonesia expand people’s access to safely managed sanitation services in the cities of Mataram, Pontianak, and Semarang.

Jakarta is also seeking entry to the New Development Bank, which has funded some energy and sanitation projects in other BRICS economies. The Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara has also pitched to investors that it would soon launch patriot bonds in hopes of raising Rp 50 trillion (around $3 billion). The proceeds are expected to go to the country’s waste-to-energy projects and other strategic projects. 

Indonesia is currently implementing a budget-heavy free school meal rollout, which the government has said to align with the SDGs’ efforts to tackle hunger and promote quality education for all. The country mainly relies on the state budget -- which is capped at Rp 71 trillion ($4.2 billion) this year -- to make sure kids do not go to class on an empty stomach.

The World is Worried Too
The $4 trillion shortfall has made the world worry. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the G20 ministers that 85 percent of the SDGs were currently "off-track". He admitted that the SDGs could be a tall order, especially if the world could not narrow the financing gap. 

“We must acknowledge that the pressing issues of low growth, high debt, tightened financial conditions, and constrained fiscal space are truly debilitating our progress. … We need meaningful reforms of the international financial architecture. We must increase grant and concessional financing,” Ramaphosa said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres revealed the harrowing fact that the global military spending had reached $2.7 trillion last year, almost thirteenfold of all official development aid. The Portuguese diplomat also called for “financial justice,” which he described as backing countries in debt distress and tripling the lending capacity of multilateral development banks.

“... [also] enhancing the participation of developing countries in global institutions and decision-making processes. And we must go further,” Guterres said.