G20 leaders have agreed: It’s time to tax the rich
20/11/2024: A proposal to tax billionaires is a key feature of the G20 Leaders' Declaration in Rio de Janeiro. It is not yet clear who would be targeted with that tax, what the tax rate would be, or where any additional tax revenue would go. But the hope is that the cash could be channeled toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially as they relate to climate change.
Source: Devex
The G20 road map to transform multilateral development banks
19/11/2024: Heads of state at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro have endorsed a plan to make institutions such as the World Bank “better, bigger and more effective.” The framework aims to tackle several challenges, from streamlining the slow, often bureaucratic processes of MDBs, to leveraging private capital to boost resources, to enhancing the role MDBs play in climate change financing.
Source: Devex
What could Trump 2.0 mean for humanitarian response?
7/11/2024: The return of Donald Trump injects another level of volatility into the world's emergencies. US funding dominates humanitarian aid, and volatile swings in funding from the world’s biggest donor can hamstring an entire sector. Vulnerable areas include UN agencies, reproductive health and climate change.
Source: The New Humanitarian
US cancels $1.1 billion of Somalia’s debt
6/11/2024: Somalia has announced that more than $1.1 billion of outstanding loans will be cancelled by the US, about a quarter of the country’s debt. Having completed its programme under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, Somalia is eligible for $4.5bn in debt relief.
Source: The Guardian
Blueprint for global financial architecture that works for Africa
2/6/2024: In the aftermath of recent economic shocks, three African countries – Zambia, Ghana, and Ethiopia – have defaulted on their debt, and 10 others, including Kenya and Rwanda, have slid into a high risk of debt distress. At meetings of the African Development Bank, African leaders have laid out their demands for the new financial architecture.
Source: The East African
IMF, DR Congo reach agreement on $1.5bn loan deal
9/5/2024: Recent progress in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund takes the Democratic Republic of Congo one step closer to completing an IMF programme for the first time. A loan agreement will be conditional on transparency relating to the finances of the country's joint venture with Chinese companies developing vast cobalt mines.
Source: The East African
Global billionaires’ tax rises up political agenda
19/4/2024: The finance ministers of Brazil and France are promoting a tax on US-dollar billionaires of at least 2% of their wealth each year, with the $250 billion it could raise going to tackle poverty, hunger and climate change. A proposal will be presented to G20 finance ministers when they meet in July.
Source: Climate Home News
Rich nations reverse aid cuts to poorest
11/4/2024: Official development assistance to least developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa rose last year, OECD figures show — after much-criticized falls in 2022. Five countries achieved the UN target to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid — Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Germany.
Source: Devex
UK spends quarter of foreign aid on asylum seeker costs
10/4/2024: Expenditure on administrative and accommodation costs for housing asylum seekers continues to hinder UK aid for the world's poorest countries. The UK spent nearly five times more on asylum seeker costs in 2023 than its bilateral support for humanitarian needs.
Source: Reliefweb
Zambia’s fossil-fuel subsidy cuts help climate and kids – but taxi drivers suffer
2/4/2024: Under pressure from the IMF, the Zambian government has redirected subsidies into education, welfare and debt reduction, leaving fuel-heavy sectors with higher costs. The IMF argues that subsidies for oil and gas make climate change worse, while also being expensive, and skewed towards helping the rich more than the poor.
Source: Climate Home News