This was said in a statement released on Wednesday amid growing food and energy crises, an uncertain global economic outlook, and the escalating impacts of climate change.

The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report quoted  the Financing Sustainable Transformations which says that urgent, massive investments are needed to accelerate transformations including in electricity supply, industry, farming, transportation, and buildings.

“Without the means to invest in sustainable development and transform their energy and food systems, developing countries are falling even further behind," it says.

UN Secretary General, António Guterres, said in the foreword to the report that “a two-track world of haves and have-nots holds clear and obvious dangers for every country. We urgently need to rebuild global cooperation and find the solutions to our current crises in multilateral action.”

According to the report some of the necessary changes are already taking place.

“The energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine has spurred investment in global energy transition, which skyrocketed in 2022 to a record $1.1 trillion.

“Energy transition investments surpassed fossil fuel system investments for the first time in 2022, but these are almost all in China and developed countries,” it says.

The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report finds that most developing countries do not have the resources for investment, unlike their developed counterparts.

Climate change, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, and debt payments up to two times higher than in 2019 have combined to put massive fiscal pressures on most developing countries. This limits their ability to invest in sustainable transformation,” reads the statement in part.

The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing Sustainable Transformations is a joint product of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development, which is comprised of more than 60 United Nations Agencies and international organizations.