Financing Our Future: A Renewed Global Framework for Financing Sustainable Development
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), held from 30 June to 3 July 2025 in Seville, Spain, marked a critical milestone in global efforts to reform financing mechanisms and mobilise resources for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provided a timely platform to address structural challenges in the international financial system and catalyse the investment needed to accelerate SDG implementation.
At the conference, Heads of State and Government and High Representatives adopted a political declaration that reaffirmed their commitment to renewing the global financing for development framework, building on the 2015 Addis Ababa Action agenda as well as Monterrey Consensus, and the Doha Declaration. Notably, the declaration includes explicit recognition of cooperatives and the broader social and solidarity economy as key actors in sustainable development.
The declaration states:
“We will invest in productive sectors, the creation of decent jobs at scale, and skills development to enable all people to benefit from inclusive, equitable, and sustainable economic growth. We will promote entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship, particularly among women and youth, and facilitate the growth of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and the social and solidarity economy, as well as inclusive and sustainable industrialization. We recognize the contribution of culture and the creative economy to advancing sustainable development.”
Furthermore, under the section on Domestic Financial and Private Sector Development and Enabling Environments, the declaration calls for:
“...the development of comprehensive risk management and insurance markets, with solutions for smallholder farmers, including women farmers, cooperatives, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other stakeholders, to protect against production risks, price volatility, and the impacts of disasters and climate change. We will promote approaches that mitigate future risks and improve insurance coverage, including by exploring alternative risk transfer instruments to unlock additional risk financing capacity.”
These acknowledgements underscore the vital role that cooperatives play in building inclusive economies, fostering decent work, supporting smallholder resilience, and advancing social and environmental justice. The inclusion of cooperatives in the FFD4 outcome document reflects growing global recognition of their impact and potential in delivering sustainable, people-centered development.
The FFD4 conference remains the only high-level forum where global leaders, international financial institutions, private sector actors, civil society, and the UN system come together to address global financing challenges. This year’s outcome serves as a strong foundation for renewed multilateral cooperation and presents a valuable advocacy tool for the cooperative movement to engage in national and international financing dialogues.
For more information: https://financing.desa.un.org/ffd4
