Starting with the Elements Paper in November 2022, 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) (Seville, Spain from 30 June to 3 July 2025) process – steered by a team of Member State co-facilitators Mexico, Nepal, Norway and Zambia – progressed through three Preparatory Committee sessions (PrepComs), with the 4th happening in two parts (Part 1 from 30 April to 1 May and Part 2 in mid-June), and supplemented with Intersessionals (see Roadmap).
The direction of the negotiations is captured in successive revisions, and while Rev.1 offers the stated aim of “an ambitious package of reforms and actions to catalyse sustainable development investment at scale to close this financing gap with urgency”, diverse Member State positions, compromises and trade-offs will determine the level of ambition and details of the final outcome.
FFD4 will take stock of progress of commitments made at FFD3 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2015) and also address emerging issues, including the synergies between science, technology and innovation (STI) and financing for development. These latter issues have also been shaped in recent high-level policy processes (Summit of the Future and the Global Digital Compact) and preparations for the upcoming WSIS+20 (June 2025).Tracking the successive drafts and revisions provides some insights into the process and, with this in mind, this briefing compares language from the FFD4 Outcome Zero Draft and the 1st Revision (Rev.1).
The following provides a side by side comparison of the FFD4 Zero Draft and Rev.1 section on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). While most negotiating sessions are closed, this comparison of successive drafts of the Outcome Document served to identify the tensions, tradeoffs and divergent political priorities of Member States ahead of FFD4 (30 April-1 May 2025.
Relevant sections from the Global Digital Compact (GDC) are also included to provide insights on how the revisions of the FfD4 outcome document are drawing from and/or moving beyond the agreed language in the GDC.
Supplementing this briefing is the “II-G. Science, Technology, Innovation and Capacity Building” portion of GPF’s Side by Side Comparison: FFD4 Outcome Document – Zero Draft & First Revision (Rev.1).