Finance for sustainable development is the subject of Chapter 33 of Agenda 21 and Chapter X of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Decisions on finance for sustainable development were taken by the Commission at its second, third, fourth, sixth, and eighth sessions, and by the General Assembly at its nineteenth Special Session [Earth Summit + 5] in its Resolution S/19-2 on the Programme for the Future Implementation of Agenda 21. All decisions of the CSD after the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 had a section on finance in connection with the themes considered in those sessions (excluding CSD’s 11th session, which defined the programme of work of the Commission).

Financing was addressed in paragraphs 253 to 268 of the outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (20 - 22 June 2012), “The Future We Want”. Member States recognized “the need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and the effective use of financing, in order to give strong support to developing countries in their efforts to promote sustainable development, including through actions undertaken in accordance with the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and for achieving sustainable development goals”.

The conference established an intergovernmental committee of experts and tasked it to prepare “a report proposing options on an effective sustainable development financing strategy to facilitate the mobilization of resources and their effective use in achieving sustainable development objectives”. The committee delivered its report in August 2014. The report informed the negotiations on the third international conference on financing for development, held in July 2015 in Addis Ababa.

Financing is addressed in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development as part of the means of implementation under each of SDG 1-16 and under SDG 17. Paragraph 40 of the Summit outcome document, “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, specifies the relationship between the actions and policies agreed in Addis Ababa and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and reads “The means of implementation targets under Goal 17 and under each Sustainable Development Goal are key to realizing our Agenda and are of equal importance with the other Goals and targets. The Agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals, can be met within the framework of a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, supported by the concrete policies and actions as outlined in the outcome document of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July 2015. We welcome the endorsement by the General Assembly of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We recognize that the full implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda is critical for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets”.

The newly established annual FfD Forum represents an important step forward in reinvigorating and strengthening the United Nations FfD follow-up process. The FfD Forum was established in accordance with paragraph 132 of the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda, recognizing the need for a dedicated follow-up and review of the financing for development outcomes as well as the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The FfD Forum is held annually at the United Nations Headquarters in New York with universal intergovernmental participation. It results in intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations that are fed into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.

The First Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) forum on financing for development follow-up (FfD forum) was held from 18 to 20 April 2016 in New York.

The Second Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) forum on financing for development follow-up (FfD forum) was held from 22 to 25 May 2017 in New York.

The Third Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) forum on financing for development follow-up (FfD forum) was held from 23 to 26 April 2018 in New York.