“Implementing the Seville Commitment is our the best opportunity to demonstrate the global community’s enduring commitment to cooperation and unlock the financing needed to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed ahead of the launch.
Development debt
While massive investment is needed to achieve the goals in the next four years, “Unfortunately, the funding gap is widening.”said UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Li Junhua.
Development aid is falling sharply as developing countries – particularly the poorest and most vulnerable – face rising costs from environmental degradation and climate impacts, high capital costs and growing debt pressure.
Among the report’s conclusions is that Official Development Assistance (ODA) fell 6 percent in 2024 and for another 23 percent the following year. Meanwhile, the debt service burden has reached 20-year highs.
Trade and tariffs
“Multilateralism itself is threatened,” said Li, presenting the report.
“Powerful nations are redefining their trade and investment alliances, often at the expense of poorer countries. “This undermines the very foundations of global cooperation.”
For example, average tariffs on exports from the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) rose from 9 percent to 28 percent in 2025. For other developing countries, excluding China, average tariffs rose from 2 percent to 19 percent, a more than eight-fold increase.
Furthermore, the conflict in the Middle East has triggered a significant shock to the already fragile global economy and developing countries are already feeling repercussions on energy, food, trade and debt sustainability.
fill a void
The report also highlights positive developments, including Record spending on renewable energy in 2024: $2.2 trilliondoubling investment in fossil fuels. South-South trade – that is, between developing countries themselves – has also quadrupled in the last 20 years.
“Implementation of the Seville Commitment remains the only viable path to closing the financing gap towards the SDGs,” concluded Mr. Li.
“The world now depends on the collective political will of member states,” he said. “We must move from the rhetoric of commitment to the mechanics of concrete action.”