Session 12: Sovereign Debt Distress in the Global South

The agreement reached at COP 29 to provide $300 billion annually in climate financing to developing countries (excluding China) by 2035 marks a significant milestone, tripling the previous target. Yet, the response from developing countries has been overwhelmingly negative. A statement from the group of least developed countries labeled the agreement “a staggering betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable.” Similarly, representatives from major developing countries like India and Nige ...

Ce papier a été initialement publié sur legrandcontinent.eu   À bas bruit, plusieurs pays africains sont en train de monter dans la chaîne de valeur des véhicules électriques. Terrain de bataille de la rivalité sino-américaine sur les matières critiques, l’Afrique pourrait trouver dans la nouvelle fragmentation mondiale des chaînes d’approvisionnement une opportunité. Étude de cas depuis la République démocratique du Congo. Les perturbations successives des chaînes d’approvisionn ...

Ce papier a été initialement publié sur legrandcontinent.eu   Alors que le monde n’a jamais été si interconnecté, les pays en développement sont confrontés à un paysage économique de plus en plus complexe et souvent hostile, façonné par trois grands groupes de contraintes politiques distinctes. Premièrement, la montée des tendances protectionnistes parmi les grandes puissances a rendu l’environnement mondial plus difficile, en particulier parce que les économies avancées se tourne ...

This paper assesses the outcomes of COP29 in Baku, focusing on its achievements and shortcomings in advancing global climate governance. Key milestones included the adoption of the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), the tripling of climate finance commitments to $300 billion annually by 2035, and progress on Article 6 carbon markets to mobilize international cooperation and finance. However, finance remains insufficient to meet the needs of developing countries, and unresolved i ...

The European Union’s (EU) Global Gateway initiative, established to enhance global connectivity and sustainable infrastructure, offers a significant opportunity to align with Africa’s development goals under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). However, the challenge lies in whether the Global Gateway can effectively complement AfCFTA’s objectives of boosting intra-African trade and industrialization by addressing critical infrastructure gaps. This paper examines how th ...

The G20 Summit held in November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the Brazilian G20 presidency, showed what decentering from the Western agenda and Western domination of world politics could mean. The summit’s main achievement was the constitution of an Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, with a membership of, and funds mobilized from, not only all G20 members, but also from more than 60 other countries. In fact, what the West showed was discomfort at not having its agenda, its ...

2024 marked the largest election year in history, with millions of people across the world going to the polls to elect their representatives and leaders. However, in the Global North, Donald Trump’s decisive election victory in the United States threatens to undermine multilateral governance structures that are already under strain. In the Global South, emerging economies from the expanded BRICS group and beyond strive to speak with a single voice, and their actions continue to be s ...

This paper was originally published on accscience.com The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly affected the global workforce, with certain occupational groups facing greater challenges than others. Atypical part-time, temporary, and gig job workers are among the most vulnerable. This paper first examines the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on atypical/ contingent workers by firm size, industry, and region. Second, we explore the factors determining the ...

Communities around the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) rely on three major economic activities: farming, fishing, and livestock herding. The floods that began in August 2024 damaged and destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland, killed thousands of livestock, and rendered fishing unsafe for fishermen. This climate shock caused families dependent on these activities to lose their primary sources of income. Worse still, these economic activities also serve as the main source of da ...