During the debate on “achieving the Sustainable Development Goals” held in the framework of the ECOSOC Meeting at the UN, Barbara Adams from Global Policy Forum and Social Watch said that we are having a situation where governments on one hand singed a climate change agreement and on the other hand are pushed by bilateral investment treaties that are obstacles in many cases to be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The traditional definition of aid is being eroded at the same time that governments have committed to achieving the UN's ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Jeffrey Sachs, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General on development, told IPS Thursday.

"A lot of governments have a kind of magical thinking which is, we're all for the Sustainable Development Goals but don't come to us if you want to achieve them, go borrow from the private markets," said Sachs.

Aldo Caliari, who represents civil society in UN Financing for Development (FfD) negotiations, told journalists here Monday that there has been a "significant shift in the language" in these negotiations towards "a larger presence of the private sector".

This paper discusses the newly issued World Bank report on the welfare of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, based on the analysis of UNHCR data. It points some significant aspects not addressed, especially the effects Syrian pre-crisis public policies. It highlights the gap between the lack of proper socioeconomic assessment of both refugees’ and hosting communities and the fact that resilience and integration policies are already been negotiated with the Lebanese and Jordanian governments. This is while there no such efforts dealing with Egypt, Iraq and mainly Turkey, who are receiving large numbers of refugees. In addition, the Civil Society organizations are channeling a large share of the humanitarian aid, while they have, as well as the Syrian refugees’ and hosting communities, no proper voice in the debate.

The money needed to fight climate change and make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality is hidden in tax havens and stowed away in the pockets of vulture funds, as world leaders gather at the UN to sign the climate treaty and discuss the new goals.

A move towards increased transparency and accountability in the private sector should not only apply to extraterritorial obligations, but also be used to fulfill economic and social rights (ESR) domestically. This could very well be done via the Dodd-Frank Act, which sets forth mechanisms that serve not only to fulfill and protect certain rights, but that also provide the legislative framework for third party accountability. These rights include the right to housing, credit, and an adequate standard of living, among others.