By Xia Li A new power plant can look like a straightforward win for a fast-growing economy. It means more electricity for homes, hospitals, factories and schools. But our new study suggests the story is far more complicated. Today, every major energy investment is increasingly shaped by two climate realities at once. First, there’s the […]
By Marina Zucker-Marques, Rosa He and Tianyi Wu Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many developing countries have faced a financial deadlock: they must scale up social and climate spending to support social-economic development, but the lack of fiscal space, and resulting debt distress inhibit new investments. Multilateral solutions such as the G20 Common […]
By Hanjie Wang While trade tensions continue to dominate international headlines, the rapid growth of electric vehicle (EV) industry has attracted less attention. Yet this transformation is already having a ripple effect in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). As governments race to decarbonize economies, the EV sector has become one of the most competitive […]
By Zheng Zhai and Kevin P. Gallagher Countries across the Global South need a stepwise increase in investment to improve the well-being of their population and foster low-carbon, equitable and resilient growth. Countries must promote growth while simultaneously avoiding the significant social and economic losses that could arise from climate change and social instability. Lower […]
In 2024, China’s relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continued to grow, especially in the emerging sectors of renewable energy, energy transition minerals and electric mobility. However, lower-technology sectors such as agriculture and mining continued to dominate trade and are likely to continue their prominent role in trans-Pacific relations. Rebecca Ray and Enrique […]
By Yan Wang As the deadline for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) draws near, the world economy faces headwinds from trade protections, supply-chain disruptions and shrinking development assistance. According to the OECD, official development assistance (ODA) from member countries declined by 7.1% in 2024. Against this backdrop, finding workable solutions to a polycrisis […]
With five years to go before the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline, official statements have stressed that only 18 percent of the targets are on track, and many are going in reverse. International development community and policymakers around the world are struggling to find approaches that help to combat climate change and other challenges. Chinese […]
By Yiyuan Qi and William Olichney As China’s overseas financing activities expand across the globe, the need for reliable, detailed and publicly accessible data has grown as well. Researchers, policymakers, civil society and journalists increasingly rely on third-party databases to understand the scale, nature and impact of China’s global lending. A small group of independent […]
By Mengdi Yue As climate, biodiversity and pollution crises intensify, the call for green transformation has become universal. Yet while the urgency is clear, how countries cooperate to achieve it is still evolving. Understanding the how is becoming essential as countries search for practical decarbonization pathways. A new special policy study published by the China […]
A new update to the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database, managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, estimates that from 2000-2024, Chinese lenders signed 1,319 loan commitments amounting to $180.87 billion with 49 African governments and seven regional institutions. In 2024, Chinese loans commitments to Africa remained concentrated among a small group […]