Climate change is a global environmental crisis that has perpetuated economic and fiscal challenges for countries all over the world. Concurrent with the awareness of climate change risks, there is growing unease regarding the disproportionate impact of climate change on less-developed countries, particularly those in Africa. Countries with persistently low per capita growth, such as […]
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 […]
Developing countries are facing dramatic debt and development crises where, to meet obligations to their external creditors, debt-distressed countries are sacrificing investments in education, healthcare, infrastructure and climate resilience. A reason for the debt situation is that the international community failed to address the flaws in the global financial architecture and to enable and embolden […]
By Marina Zucker-Marques The African continent holds immense potential for sustainable development. It is rich in renewable energy resources—home to 60 percent of the world’s solar potential, 30 percent of proven transition mineral reserves and enough wind capacity to meet its electricity needs 250 times over. Its young and growing population is another powerful engine […]
By Leslie Elliott Armijo and Prateek Sood Ideas matter for choices about economic policy. Unexamined assumptions may bound the scope of the analysis of the sources of problems, as well as their possible solutions. After each round of international financial crises and their associated sovereign defaults, possible solutions are proposed to amend the global governance […]
In many ways the African continent has been poised for take-off. The continent is home to many of the key ingredients for a successful 21st century economy with 60 percent of the world’s solar resources, 30 percent of proven transition mineral reserves and enough wind potential to provide the entire continent enough electricity to meet […]
By Jwala Rambarran and Sara Jane Ahmed The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), which takes place at the end of June in Spain, will attempt to forge the main global policy framework for development finance over the next decade and presents a critical opportunity to tackle systemic inequities in the global financial […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns Financing for Development Conferences – the chief event in the United Nations (UN) system on mobilizing the resources needed to achieve development – don’t come around very often: a decade ago in Addis Ababa, negotiators produced the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which offered a comprehensive framework to guide development policymaking over the […]
By Hua Chai and Yan Wang In recent years, the traditional focus on public debt as the cornerstone of fiscal policy has come under scrutiny. Many countries anchor their fiscal policy on the level of public debt, either implicitly or explicitly through fiscal rules. However, the prolonged period of low interest rates in advanced economies […]
The most notable milestone of 2024 was the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization. This anniversary came as calls for ambitious global economic governance reforms gain momentum in key fora, and developing country frustrations with the existing system continue to grow. 2024 […]