This presentation was made by Andrew BLAZEY, OECD, at the OECD-MENA meeting dedicated to Budgeting for Societal Outcomes: Gender, Youth and Sustainable Development Goals Budgeting, held in Caserta, Italy, on 18-19 July 2019

1. SESSION 6: BUDGETING FOR SOCIETAL
GOALS: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Public Governance Directorate
OECD
Middle East and North Africa Senior Budget Officials’ Network
Caserta, Italy
18 – 19 July 2019
Andrew Blazey
andrew.blazey@oecd.org
Public Governance Directorate, OECD

2. 1. Budgeting for societal goals
– Sustainable Development Goals
– OECD Better Life Index
– Paris Agreement
2. Case study: the New Zealand Wellbeing
Budget
3. Concluding observations
2
Introduction

3. 1. Budgeting For Societal Goals
3
Three examples:
 Sustainable Development Goals
 OECD Better Life Index
 Paris Agreement

4. 4
Sustainable Development Goals
Source: United Nations

5. 5
OECD Better Life Index
Source: OECD Better Life Index 2017
• 11 Domains, measured
since 2005
• Since the Global
Finance Crisis, income
has increased, but
other aspects have not
kept pace
• Examples include: civic
engagement; social
support; and housing
quality
• Case study: How’s life
in Australia?

6. 6
Paris Agreement on Climate Change

7. 7
OECD Performance Budgeting
Reflection of SDG targets and indicators in national frameworks (2018)

8. • Establishing a long-term national plan based on the
SDGs
• Identifying the estimated cost of achieving the SDGs
e.g. the SDG infrastructure gap
• Mapping a budget against the SDGs
• Establishing data sets to track progress
• Implementing evaluation systems to improve policy.
• Co-ordinating implementation across the public sector
and its stakeholders
8
SDGs and Budgets: An ambitious agenda

9. • Improves policy coherence
– To ensure one budget decision does not negatively impact on
another
– Make progress towards international commitments
• Budgeting to SDGs can increase accountability
– Increases awareness of dependencies
• Budgets will become more comparable over time
– Country circumstances define the character of budgets
9
Assumptions
Countries experiences: Identifying the relevance of budgets to policies:
− Finland: explain the purpose of the policy
− Sweden: identify the link between a policy and the SDGs
− Mexico: links budget programmes to SDGs

10. Challenges
• Tools are in the early
stages of development
• Data gaps and time lags
are material
• SDGs do not always map
to ministry accountabilities
• Difficult to allocate
resources –policy design is
as important as funding
• The private sector plays a
pivotal role, but the role is
not well defined
10
Budgeting challenges and opportunities
Opportunities
• Increases the profile of
SDGs and makes the Goals
relevant to political debate,
policy and the allocation of
public resources
• Improves the clarity and
purpose of budget
proposals
• Links outcome and
performance information to
the budget processes

11. 11
Core elements across early adopters
• National plan or strategy
• High-level political
support
• Nationally-determined
priorities
• Ministry of Finance co-
ordinates, pilots,
initiatives
• Analysis of challenges
and opportunities
• National Statistics Office
• Audit Institutions
• Analytical tools
• Ministries use the SDGs
to influence resource
allocations
• Parliament
• Non-Governmental
Organisations
• Academics
• International
Organisations
Leadership Central co-ordination
ImplementationStakeholders

12. 2. Case Study: The New
Zealand Wellbeing Budget
12

13. 13
Wellbeing Budget
1. Taking Mental Health Seriously – Supporting mental
wellbeing for all New Zealanders, with a special focus on
under 24-year-olds
2. Improving Child Wellbeing – Reducing child poverty and
improving child wellbeing, including addressing family
violence
3. Supporting Māori and Pasifika Aspirations – Lifting
Māori and Pacific incomes, skills and opportunities
4. Building a Productive Nation – Supporting a thriving
nation in the digital age through innovation, social and
economic opportunities
5. Transforming the Economy – Creating opportunities for
productive businesses, regions, iwi and others to transition
to a sustainable and low-emissions economy

14. 14
Building the Living Standards Framework

15. 15

16. • Political leadership
• Performance outcomes
• Ministry co-ordination
– Social Investment Board (Welfare, Health, Housing, Education,
Justice)
– National Science Advisors
– Social Investment Agency
• Statistical information, analysis, policy reviews
• Public reporting (Dashboard, Outcome reports)
• Further measures in coming years
16
Key components

17. 17
Supporting Data Infrastructure

18. 3. Concluding Observations
18

19. • An increasing number of countries are using frameworks that
set goals beyond macroeconomic variables
• Drivers such as political leadership, international commitments,
and institutional reform underpin the direction of travel
• Budget management implications are significant and involve a
multi-year response
• Broad-based engagement and targeted capacity building
initiatives across ministries are informing the scope and pace of
the results achieved.
19
Concluding observations
Source: https://www.oecd.org/sdgs/
OECD Hub on the Sustainable Development Goals
provides comprehensive support and leadership on
a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral basis.

20. http://www.oecd.org/gov/budgeting/
Andrew Blazey
andrew.blazey@oecd.org
Budgeting & Public Expenditures
Public Governance Directorate, OECD

21. • Hege, E and Brimont L, Integrating SDGs into national budgetary
processes, Institute for Sustainable Development and International
Relations, 2018.
• New Zealand Treasury, Living Standard’s Framework, 2019.
• New Zealand Government, 2019 Budget at a Glance.
• OECD, How’s Life 2017? Measuring Wellbeing.
• OECD, 2018 Survey on Performance Budgeting in OECD Countries.
• Statistics New Zealand, Integrated Data Infrastructure Overview 2018.
• United Nations, Chapter 3: Budget Processes in Support of SDG
Implementation, World Public Sector Report 2019.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Overview October 2018.
21
References