In 2021, economic losses from natural catastrophes totaled $270 billion. Poor climate physical risk assessment limits adaptation finance, which is still lagging behind mitigation finance in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), but also high-income countries. A new policy brief published by the European Capital Markets Institute and authored by Irene Monasterolo, Kevin P. Gallagher, […]
A debt crisis is emerging in the Global South at the precise moment when substantial investment is needed to meet shared climate and development goals. Yet, the G20 Common Framework has been unable to engage all creditor classes or link debt relief to climate and development. How can emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) find […]
Reform of the international financial system is in the air, with support from both developing countries, as well as the advanced economies that wrote the rules in the first place. Tasked by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, the World Bank has begun advancing an ‘evolution roadmap’ that reconsiders the mission, operations and financing […]
By Timon Forster On February 15, 2023, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center hosted Jamie Martin to discuss his new book ‘The Meddlers: Sovereignty, Empire & the Birth of Global Economic Governance.’ The Meddlers charts the transformation of global economic governance from World War I to the birth of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) […]
By Oyintarelado Moses and Kevin P. Gallagher Recent reports suggest there may be new momentum in the beleaguered Group of 20 (G20) Common Framework negotiations in Zambia and beyond. Since its launch in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Common Framework has been plagued by reluctance to fully engage in negotiations from private […]
By Devika Dutt and Kevin P. Gallagher The long-standing gridlock in trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has shifted the focus of trade negotiations to bilateral and plurilateral trade and investment agreements. Since the inception of the WTO in 1995, over 2,000 regional and bilateral trade and investment treaties have been negotiated and […]
A controversial legal process known as investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) is making it difficult for governments to mobilize finance for ambitious climate action. When assets are protected by international investment treaties, like the Energy Charter Treaty, legal claims can be brought against countries by investors who feel they are negatively impacted by government policies. For […]
In 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved reforms to make short-term operations available to low-income countries and reform lending to higher-income countries. Many scholars have noted that the 2008 Global Financial Crisis appeared to loosen austerity measures in favor of more counter-cyclical approaches. However, it remains an open question whether the IMF followed through […]
In parallel to a chaotic 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, leaders of Group of 20 (G20) countries met in Bali, Indonesia from November 15-16 for the G20 Leaders’ Summit against a backdrop of worsening climate impacts, an ongoing energy crisis, Russia’s war in Ukraine and skyrocketing inflation. Expectations for the […]
By Jiajun Xu and Kevin P. Gallagher According new research by the United Nations, swift and radical transformation towards renewable energy systems is needed to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, but there is a wide gap between need and delivery. In a new journal article published in Studies in Comparative International Development, we […]