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Rebranding or reshaping the global financial architecture?

The world finds itself in a polycrisis with three proposals on the table: the Evolution Roadmap of the World Bank Group; the Bridgetown Initiative; and the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, which takes place in Paris next week. To explore each of these initiatives further, Eurodad and partners organised a webinar which featured three experts who give their points of view: Daniela Gabor, Professor of Economics and Macrofinance at UWE Bristol, Liane Schalatek, Vice-Director of Boell Foundation North America and Mariama Williams,Director of the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE).

Read the summary here.

You can also rewatch the webinar in English and in Spanish.

Read Latindadd's statement on the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact here. 

Read an article by the Global Policy Forum which examines the UN Secretary-Generalʹs policy brief on comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture here.

News

Eurodad Policy Forum: Building an economy for people and the planet

Financial architecture reform is urgently needed. Yet it is important to distinguish between proposals that are capable of delivering the structural change needed and those that are simply a distraction. The Policy Forum brought together external experts with our members and partners from around the world to examine whether or not the proposals on the table will contribute to an economic model centered on people and planet.

Rewatch the two plenaries which helped shape the debates we had this week below.

From an extractivist to a care economy: The global economic model we want

Debunking the myth of the financing gap

New York State Senate, Assembly Fail to Pass Taxpayer and Debt Crises Protection Legislation

by Jubilee USA

Read Jubilee USA's press release following the failure of the New York State Senate and Assembly to pass legislation that was designed to stop predatory "vulture fund" behaviour, alleviate poverty in developing countries, address high food prices and protect pensions and US taxpayers.

Read the press release here. 

Risks in Galapagos Islands debt swap are flagged

by Latindadd

More than 220 organisations, academics, environment advocates, and civil society analysts working on debt and climate justice issues in different countries and regions around the world have endorsed a joint statement warning about the potential risks of the debt-for-nature swap involving the reserves of Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. The financial transaction exhibits problems related to a lack of integrity and transparency, and undermines Ecuador’s sovereignty over fiscal sustainability and the protection of biodiversity.

Read the article in English or Spanish here.

Reports

Little to celebrate: An assessment of Official Development Assistance in 2022

Official Development Assistance (ODA or aid) reached a new all-time high of US$204 billion in 2022, but behind the headline figures the data shows even higher inflation of ODA than witnessed in 2021. It is vital to make sure that the integrity of ODA is preserved to serve the needs of people across the global south rather than the interests of countries in the global north.

Read the briefing here.

Listen to the recording of a recent Twitter Space on the ODA figures featuring Vitalice Meja from Reality of Aid Africa, Salvatore Nocerino Telleria from CONCORD and Nerea Craviotto from Eurodad here.

Climate Finance Shadow Report 2023: Assessing the delivery of the US$100 billion commitment

by Oxfam International

In 2009, high-income countries committed in the Copenhagen Accords to mobilize US$100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance for low- and middle-income countries. This year’s report finds that high-income countries have not only failed to deliver on their commitment, but also generous accounting practices have allowed them to overstate the level of support they have actually provided. Moreover, much of the finance has been provided as loans, which means that it risks increasing the debt burden of the countries it is supposed to help. 

Read the report here. 

Useful resources

Podcast episode: Into the Bretton Woods

by La Ruta del Clima Radio 

La Ruta del Clima Radio brings voices from all over Latin America to address climate change governance from a regional perspective. In this episode, they discuss with Jon Sward, Environment Project Manager at the Bretton Woods Project, how institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund work to align their goals with the Paris Agreement, the recent V20 proposal of a "fit-for-climate" global financial architecture, and the much talked about Bridgetown initiative. 

Listen to the episode here. 

This newsletter has been produced with co-funding from the European Union, Bread for the World and Norad. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Eurodad and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the funders.