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View all search resultsA democratic reckoning for global development finance
Far-right populism, geopolitical tensions and climate indifference have weakened the multilateral order.
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Fireworks explode around police officers in riot gear during a protest in response to federal immigration operations in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, the United States, on June 9. (AFP/Frederic J. Brown)
T
he Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) from June 30 to July 3 in Seville, Spain, represents a unique opportunity to advance bold progressive policies aimed at combating climate change, reducing poverty and inequality and reforming the rules of multilateral engagement to strengthen global democracy.
United Nations member states have already finalized a landmark document, whose drafting was co-facilitated by a diverse group of countries, Mexico, Nepal, Zambia and Norway, known as the Seville Commitment (Compromiso de Sevilla), which seeks to unite governments and civil-society organizations around these shared objectives.
Encouragingly, the Seville Commitment highlights the plight of the world’s poorest populations, increasingly drowned out by the rising tide of hyper-nationalism in many advanced economies. This is particularly significant, given that developing countries need an estimated US$4 trillion in annual financing to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Many wealthy countries are sharply reducing their foreign-aid budgets as they ramp up defense spending, which has compounded the challenges developing countries must confront. Global military expenditure surged to $2.7 trillion in 2024, a 9.4 percent increase from 2023. Even foreign direct investment, which, though not a form of aid, plays a vital role in supporting industrial development and job creation, has declined where it is needed most. Emerging markets and developing economies attracted just $435 billion in FDI in 2023, the lowest figure since 2005.
The growing number of migrants attempting to reach wealthier countries is a clear indicator of the deteriorating conditions across much of the developing world. Sadly, many of those fleeing conflict, poverty and climate disasters are met not with compassion but with indifference or, increasingly, outright hostility. Fueled by the rise of far-right populism, the typical response from developed countries is simply to deport more migrants, with little regard for their fate or the underlying causes of their displacement.
The indifference appears to extend to future generations, as growing apathy (or resignation) regarding climate change threatens the very systems that sustain human life. To help avert disaster, the upcoming FfD4 conference aims to rekindle a dormant sense of shared responsibility, which is essential to addressing challenges that no single country can face on its own.
To its credit, the Seville Commitment does not shy away from difficult conversations about the threats facing global democracy. Notably, it calls on institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reassess how voting power is allocated among their members, and how to amplify emerging and developing economies’ voice in multilateral negotiations.
