REPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DEVELOPMENT.

UN DECLARATIONS: STOCKHOLM D., OUR COMMON FUTURE, RIO & RIO +20
The United Nations has released several documents over the last few decades that deal with humanity’s
problematic relationship with the environment. The Stockholm Declaration (1972), Our Common Future
(1987), Agenda 21 of the Rio Summit (1992), and the Rio +20 Statements.
The Stockholm Declaration called upon the world’s governments to “exert common efforts for the
preservation and improvement of the human environment, for the benefit of all the people and for their
posterity.” The Declaration recognized that global economic development which began in the wake of WW
II was creating inequality and environmental harm.
By the 1980s, the international community had much more data about the stresses that the growing and
increasingly globalized economy was placing the natural environment and the incredible inequality between
people. In Our Common Future the Brundtland Commission wrote, “Humanity’s inability to fit its activities
into that pattern is changing planetary systems, fundamentally. Many such changes are accompanied by life-
threatening hazards. This new reality, from which there is no escape, must be recognized – and
managed.” Their answer was to initiate “sustainable development,” that is development that “meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Agenda 21 of UN Conference on Environment & Development, brought sustainable development to the fore,
including in systems of education. “Education, including formal education, public awareness and training
should be recognized as a process by which human beings and societies can reach their fullest potential.
Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to
address environment and development issues.”.
At the 2012 Rio +20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, these commitments were renewed: “We
underscore the importance of supporting educational institutions, especially higher educational institutions
in developing countries, to carry out research and innovation for sustainable development, including in the
field of education, to develop quality and innovative programmes, including entrepreneurship and business
skills training, professional, technical and vocational training and lifelong learning, geared to bridging
skills gaps for advancing national sustainable development objectives.”
FINANCING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2019: The Report warns that
mobilizing sufficient financing remains a major challenge in implementing the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. The report states that significant additional financing is required for SDG4. It
explains that annual total spending to achieve the first two —and costliest—education targets, namely
universal pre-primary, primary and secondary education, would need to more than triple in low-income
countries. Three sources of funding are available to fill the gap: Governments, donors and households.
Domestic public finance is by far the most important source of funding, accounting for 79 per cent of
education spending globally. Poorer countries prioritize education more in their public expenditure, but this
still translates into vastly smaller expenditure by student— less than $200 annually per primary school
student in low-income countries, compared to around $8,000 in high-income countries. In response,
households have to contribute a much larger share of education financing directly. In some developing
countries, households account for more than half of all expenditure, compared to less than 15 per cent in
most developed countries. Overreliance on households raises equity concerns.
Reports of the Secretary-General:
Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all:
The present report provides an overview of the progress made towards ensuring access to affordable,
reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and highlights action undertaken by Member States to
accelerate the achievement of that objective. It presents key messages from the first review of Sustainable
Development Goal 7 all at the high-level political forum on sustainable development held in July 2018.
Future [will host some..]global platforms for sharing lessons and inspiring further action in support of Goal7.
Report of the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization on the promotion of sustainable
tourism, including ecotourism, for poverty eradication and environment protection
This Report includes recommendations on ways and means to promote sustainable tourism, including
ecotourism, as a tool for fighting poverty and promoting sustainable development. [..] UNWTO was, in turn,
requested to take the lead in the preparation of the present report.
Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development
The report includes discussion of best practices and initiatives taken to support entrepreneurship at the
national, regional and international levels, including with regard to the identification, formulation,
implementation and assessment of coherent policy measures on entrepreneurship and the promotion of
micro-, small and medium- sized enterprises. There is a special focus on policies aimed at promoting social
entrepreneurship in recognition of its role in creating alternative sustainable models of production, finance
and consumption to respond to social, economic and environmental issues, particularly in the context of the
2030 Agenda. T the report highlights the importance of indicators to measure the impact of entrepreneurship
policies on economic development and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT - THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK 2019: The Changing
Nature of Work studies how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today.
Fears that robots will take away jobs from people have dominated the discussion over the future of work, but
the World Development Report 2019 finds that on balance this appears to be unfounded. Work is constantly
reshaped by technological progress. Firms adopt new ways of production, markets expand, and societies
evolve. Overall, technology brings opportunity, paving the way to create new jobs, increase productivity, and
deliver effective public services. Firms can grow rapidly thanks to digital transformation, expanding their
boundaries and reshaping traditional production patterns. The rise of the digital platform firm means that
technological effects reach more people faster than ever before. Technology is changing the skills that
employers seek. Workers need to be better at complex problem-solving, teamwork and adaptability. Digital
technology is also changing how people work and the terms on which they work. Even in advanced
economies, short-term work, often found through online platforms, is posing similar challenges to those
faced by the world’s informal workers. The Report analyzes these changes and considers how governments
can best respond. Investing in human capital must be a priority for governments in order for workers to build
the skills in demand in the labor market. In addition, governments need to enhance social protection and
extend it to all people in society, irrespective of the terms on which they work. To fund these investments in
human capital and social protection, the Report offers some suggestions as to how governments can mobilize
additional revenues by increasing the tax base. 
GLOBAL FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORT: Lower for Longer: The October 2019 Global Financial
Stability Report (GFSR) identifies the current key vulnerabilities in the global financial system as the rise in
corporate debt burdens, increasing holdings of riskier and more illiquid assets by institutional investors, and
growing reliance on external borrowing by emerging and frontier market economies. The report proposes
that policymakers mitigate these risks through stricter supervisory and macroprudential oversight of firms,
strengthened oversight and disclosure for institutional investors, and the implementation of prudent
sovereign debt management practices and frameworks for emerging and frontier market economies.
Chapter 1: Global Financial Stability Overview: Lower for Longer - assesses overall global financial
stability. Financial markets have been buffeted by the twists and turns of trade disputes and growing investor
concern about the global economic outlook. Financial conditions have eased further and appear to be
premised on expectations of additional monetary policy accommodation across the globe. Large interest rate
declines have created further incentives for investors to search for yield, leading to stretched valuations in
some asset markets. Accommodative conditions have fueled a buildup of financial vulnerabilities. Against
this backdrop, medium-term risks to global growth and financial stability are still firmly skewed to the
downside. Policymakers urgently need to tackle financial vulnerabilities that could exacerbate the next
economic downturn.
Chapter 2: Global Corporate Vulnerabilities: Riskier Business - Accommodative monetary policy supports
the economy in the near term, but easy financial conditions encourage more financial risk-taking and may
fuel a further buildup of vulnerabilities in some sectors and countries. This chapter shows that corporate
sector vulnerabilities are already high in several systemically important economies as a result of rising debt
burdens and weakening debt service capacity. In a material economic slowdown scenario, half as severe as
the global financial crisis, corporate debt-at-risk (debt owed by firms that cannot cover their interest
expenses with their earnings) could rise to $19 trillion—or nearly 40 percent of total corporate debt in major
economies, and above postcrisis levels.
Chapter 3: Institutional Investors: Falling Rates, Rising Risks - Lower-for-longer yields may prompt
institutional investors to seek riskier and more illiquid investments to earn their targeted return. This
increased risk-taking may lead to a further buildup of vulnerabilities among investment funds, pension funds,
and life insurers. Low yields promote greater portfolio similarities among investment funds, which may
amplify market sell-offs if there is an adverse shock. The need to satisfy contingent calls arising from
pension funds’ illiquid investments could constrain the traditional role they play in stabilizing markets during
periods of stress. High return guarantees and duration mismatches are driving an increase in cross-border
investments by some life insurers, leading in some cases to large concentrated exposures and increasing the
risk of spillovers of shocks across borders. These vulnerabilities could amplify shocks and should be closely
monitored and carefully managed.
Chapter 4: Emerging and Frontier Markets: Mind the Debt - Favorable external financing conditions, such as
falling global interest rates, supported debt portfolio flows to emerging markets and contributed to the
decline of emerging market credit spreads. Equity flows have suffered the most from the twists and turns of
trade disputes, and further escalation remains a serious risk for emerging and frontier markets. With private
and public debt already high in some countries, easy financing conditions may encourage excessive build up
of debt, raising rollover and debt sustainability risks. Overindebted state-owned enterprises may face
difficulties in accessing funding markets and servicing their debt without sovereign support. Frontier market
economies’ ever greater reliance on external debt may increase the risk of debt distress. These risks should
be addressed through prudent sovereign debt management practices and frameworks.
Chapter 5: Banks' Dollar Funding: A Source of Financial Vulnerability - Assesses global non-US banks’ US
dollar funding fragility and provides metrics for monitoring it. The chapter shows that rising US dollar
funding costs are associated with financial stress in the home economies of global non-US banks and with
cutbacks in the supply of loans to countries that borrow in US dollars. Such negative effects are amplified
when US dollar funding is fragile and the share of US dollar assets in total assets is high. Emerging markets
borrowing in US dollars are particularly vulnerable to cutbacks in cross-border lending, because their ability
to substitute into alternative funds in US dollars or even other currencies is limited. The chapter discusses
central bank swap line arrangements as well as international reserves in the home economies of global non-
US banks as possible mitigation tools.
Chapter 6: Sustainable Finance: Looking Farther - Reports on the incorporation of environmental, social, and
governance (ESG) principles into finance. ESG issues may materially affect corporate performance and give
rise to financial stability risks via exposure of financial institutions and large losses from climate change.
Investor interest in ESG factors has continued to rise in recent years, but sustainable finance needs to deal
with challenges, such as lack of standardization. ESG-related disclosure remains fragmented and sparse—in
part because of associated costs, the often voluntary nature of disclosure, and lack of standardization.
Policymakers have a role to play in developing standards, fostering disclosure and transparency, and
promoting integration of sustainability considerations into investments and business decisions.