The Secretary-General's UN development system reform introduced a new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework to promote shared analysis and planning, as well as a clearer value proposition for the UN as a catalyst and platform for inclusive, networked, effective multilateralism.

To realise the benefits of the reform, the organization must address the discrepancy between joint planning at the strategic level by UN country teams and the high proportion of single-agency funding provided by Member States at the project level.

Though it has the potential to unlock catalytic capital for peacebuilding by engaging the private sector, the UN needs to develop adequate guidance, standards and best practices regarding how to do this to ensure positive contributions to peace.

This contribution explores five dynamic and sometimes overlapping approaches to private sector engagement in peacebuilding finance (the UN Global Compact and Business for Peace, corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurship, socially responsible investments, and innovative tools) and related tensions.

A blended finance facility for peacebuilding was piloted in Colombia in 2018. It demonstrated the potential to provide financing institutions and impact investors with incentives to develop programmes in conflict-affected settings, thereby enabling a conducive environment for peace and sustainability.

To scale up the pilot with reduced transaction costs, the UN should develop new policies, tools and processes adapted to blended financing, including those related to conflict analysis, legal agreements, monitoring and evaluation, and procurement.

The UN needs to leverage its convening power and normative mandates to enable increased private sector investments for the SDGs. Utilising this approach, the SDG Partnerships Platform facilitated hundreds of millions (US$) in investments in areas like health care and food security investments.

At the global level, the UN Joint SDG Fund is rolling out programmes to leverage significant private sector financing towards the SDGs.

In February 2021, the European Commission issued a joint communication to the European Parliament and Council, outlining a new approach to strengthen rules-based multilateralism. With this approach, the EU aims to more effectively leverage the collective contributions of the EU and its member states, in support of implementation of agreed policy priorities and greater coherence in international fora.

The EU intends to calibrate its funding to multilateral initiatives or organisations in accordance with how agreed policy priorities are met.

Global Public Goods (GPGs), which are essential to mitigating climate change, reducing biodiversity loss and preventing global pandemics, are those which are considered non-rivalrous and non-excludable, meaning that one person’s use of the good does not inhibit another’s and that producers cannot exclude certain individuals or groups from consuming it.

The UN can support the provision of GPGs by supporting the collection and monitoring of data, catalysing action and ensuring funding.

Universal access remains the fundamental challenge facing the global COVID-19 vaccine drive. If a substantial number of people remain unvaccinated, they will serve as a reservoir of hosts within which the Coronavirus can recoup.

Establishing cooperation protocols, guaranteeing affordability, maintaining an efficient logistics system, and taking strategic decisions on the prioritisation and sequencing of public health and public financing policy are, therefore, key to ensuring the miracle of vaccine production is matched by the miracle of universal reach.

With annual global benefits that could amount to US$ 162 billion, weather and climate observations constitute a Global Public Good. But not all countries can resource the observation and data sharing capacities required by international agreements.

The Systematic Observations Financing Facility could support these countries in meeting their obligations regarding surface-based weather observations and demonstrate that better weather data mean better development and climate outcomes.