Over the past 12 months, efforts to tackle a warming planet have lost momentum. There has already been a dialing back on climate initiatives at the Western-led Bretton Woods Institutions and by private financiers, with meaningful progress on the climate financing challenge stalling at the very moment greater effort is urgently needed. As a result, […]
By Rachel Thrasher and Praveena Bandara The consensus around the urgent need for climate policy continues to grow. In a July 2025 address, UN Secretary-General António Guterres lauded this new “moment of opportunity” by launching a technical report that highlights the benefits and inevitability of a global energy transition. The report highlights the rapid progress […]
Advanced economies that have criticized industrial policy in the past, are now increasingly turning to those tools in response to the climate crisis. At the same time, existing trade and investment agreements, negotiated and drafted at a time when countries viewed industrial policies with skepticism, embody a more “hands-off” approach to economic governance. The new […]
The Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) is a policy-oriented research center working to advance financial stability, human well-being and environmental sustainability across the globe through rigorous interdisciplinary research, policy engagement and strategic communications. The GDP Center is a University-wide research center in partnership with the Office of Research and the Frederick S. […]
The Boston University Global Development Policy Center, the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) and Institute of Global Politics (IGP) at Columbia University and the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, D.C. will host a workshop on “The Role of SDRs for Global Stability and Sustainable Economic Transformation,” on December 5, 2025. Special Drawing Rights […]
Climate vulnerable economies have launched ambitious national plans and strategies to achieve prosperity while mitigating climate shocks, building resilience and powering their economies with clean energy. Resource mobilization will be critical for these efforts. However, members of the Vulnerable Group of 20 (V20), comprising 74 economies vulnerable to climate change, face significant obstacles to resource […]
By Samantha Igo As a record-breaking heat wave strains energy grids and risks public health across Europe, policymakers, activists and experts convene in Seville, Spain from June 30 to July 3 for the highly anticipated 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). These rather rare policy events (the last was 10 years ago in […]
Addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change and growth in emerging and developing economies requires an urgent and unprecedented increase in climate-aligned investment. Increasing investment is essential to addressing the negative effects of climate shocks on growth and productivity. This comes at a time when the world, and developing countries in particular, are experiencing slowing […]
By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary When governments met for the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2015, they asked multilateral development banks (MDBs) to examine the adequacy of their resources to support the sustainable development agenda. After Addis, there was indeed an uptick of general capital increases for MDBs; however, […]
Multilateral development banks (MDBs) play a key role providing developing countries with affordable, long-term finance. In 2024, to help meet development challenges, the Group of 20 (G20) agreed on a roadmap to make the MDBs bigger, better and more effective and recommended MDBs conduct resource needs reviews to assess adequacy of resources to meet shareholder […]