Catalytic technical assistance can improve the underlying market conditions for private investment in sustainable development. Continue reading How catalytic technical assistance can help unlock development finance
The Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) made a clear case for putting the ocean at the centre of the sustainable development agenda. While this should be celebrated, much work remains to translate UNOC-3’s achievements into real accomplishments. Continue reading The Third UN Ocean Conference: Reflections and the road ahead
By Harald Hirschhofer and Ugo Panizza
At COP29 in November, negotiators agreed to triple annual financing for developing countries from USD 100 billion to USD 300 billion by 2035. The challenge is that even if this ambitious target is met— a big “if” given the declining political commitment to official development assistance (ODA)—it will still fall short of the resources needed to scale up climate and SDG financing while ensuring debt sustainability.
Continue reading “To make ODA fit for the future, focus on currency risk “
By Carsten Staur, Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee
The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has defined a set of criteria for including countries on its list of Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipients and, similarly, for them to graduate from the list, primarily because their economic growth has made them high income countries.
Continue reading “When and why do countries stop being eligible for receiving Official Development Assistance?”
By Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Progress on poverty eradication is fading fast. We’re halfway to 2030, the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and the number of people living in extreme poverty is higher than it was four years ago.
Continue reading “Social protection is key to ending poverty. So why is it so neglected in ODA?”
Par Carsten Staur, Président du Comité d’aide au développement (CAD)
Pourquoi certains membres du CAD déclarent-ils une partie du coût de l’accueil des réfugiés dans leur propre pays comme aide publique au développement (APD) ? C’est une bonne question. Voici la réponse.
Continue reading “La comptabilisation des coûts des réfugiés dans l’aide publique au développement : ce qu’il faut savoir”
By Carsten Staur, Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Chair
Why are DAC members reporting part of refugee costs in their own countries as Official Development Assistance (ODA)? A good question. Here’s the answer:
Continue reading “The elephant in the room: In-donor refugee costs”
By Susanna Gable, Deputy Director, Development Policy and Finance, Gates Foundation
Economic growth, poverty reduction, and climate action are deeply interlinked: none can move ahead without the other. So why isn’t more happening?
Our recent report A transition approach to poverty reduction and climate finance – The missing link to implementation from the Global Council on SDG1 points to the lack of ‘transition thinking’ both in policy and financing. It argues that to achieve poverty reduction goals alongside necessary climate actions, we need a just green transition supported by policy and financing that takes the specific development context and level of economic transition of each country into account.
Continue reading “Poverty reduction and climate finance: pieces of the same development puzzle”
By Rachel Morris, Policy Analyst – Financing for Sustainable Development (Development Co-operation Directorate), and Joseph Stead, Senior Policy Analyst – Tax and Development (Centre for Tax Policy and Administration), OECD
Faced with the worst economic downturn since World War II, developing country governments are scrambling to maximise resources to stay afloat. During the COVID-19 pandemic, developing countries took a massive hit to their government revenues: USD 689 billion fewer revenues were generated in 2019 compared to 2020.1 The poorest countries are now faced with an increasing gap to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to higher financing needs and fewer resources to spend on recovery. In addition to declining government revenues, increasing pressures on available foreign aid mean that resources to avoid debt and climate crises are stretched2. With government revenues in developing countries expected to remain almost 20% below pre-pandemic levels, every penny counts, especially those coming from tax revenues. But tax exemptions can stand in the way of maximising tax revenues.
Continue reading “Stopping the leaks: a fresh look at tax breaks for foreign aid”