This paper will firstly explore the possible frameworks for development post-2015 currently being discussed on the global level, notably a follow-up to the MDGs as well as a congruent yet separate set of broader development targets, framed as sustainable development goals. Arguably, the debate on introducing broader development targets that go beyond aid and direct poverty alleviation is in some parts a debate on how to operationalise the longer established concept of global public goods, which will also be touched upon in this section.

The second part of the paper will focus on why global governance, although currently stagnant, crucially matters for the implementation of any framework for future global development. This is particularly true if such framework is to address wider development challenges or global public ‘bads’ such as climate change and financial instability. Addressing them coherently requires coordinated action both in Northern and Southern countries, and global cooperation across sectors. Cooperation in the global sphere, however, does not happen automatically – in fact, there are many disincentives to it, such as first-mover risks, free-riding opportunities or simply national and corporate interests. Likewise, policy coherence cannot be achieved or monitored easily. Coordination at the regional level is a first but insufficient step, as demonstrated by the EU’s Policy Coherence for Development- promoted as an ambitious tool to take into account development cooperation objectives in non-development policies, it cannot prevent EU agricultural subsidies and fishery policies from undermining rural development and biodiversity on a global scale. Institutions with truly global scope and membership may need to step in to foster coherence,to build trust, to monitor binding agreements, to connect various sets of actors, and to bridge information and communication gaps. The section will conclude with a brief overview of current and emerging bodies of global governance for development upstream and downstream of the G20: the IFIs, the UN Development Cooperation Forum, the OECD DAC, and the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness.

The third and last part of the paper will try to link global governance issues to the (South) Asian context, focusing on development challenges in the area and how they may be alleviated by functioning mechanisms of global development governance. So far, progress on most MDG targets was relatively slow in South Asia. Arguably, this is partly due to global food price volatility (considering South Asia’s huge rural sectors and the many net food importing countries) and other global shocks: climate change may be one of them as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are among the top 20 countries worldwide most at risk of extreme weather; the global financial and economic crisis had adverse effects too, considering that Asia on the whole is the most globalised region in the world in terms of trade and financial flows. Therefore, the main argument is that a system of global development governance that both addresses poverty alleviation and wider development challenges by fostering development-friendly cross-sectoral policies will greatly benefit regional and local development in South Asia.