Sovereign Debt and Sustained Development: Breaking the Vicious Cycle and Building New Patterns of Resilience

An increasing number of countries find themselves in a vicious cycle of economic fragility, debt, commodity dependence, biodiversity loss and climate vulnerability. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) presents an opportunity for practitioners, researchers and civil society members to deepen understanding of this cycle and explore alternative approaches to debt resolution and sustainable development.

Several important publications have recently emerged highlighting the connections between sovereign debt, commodity dependence, biodiversity loss and climate vulnerability. In 2023, the Asian Infrastructure Investment launched a flagship report on ‘Nature as Infrastructure,’ highlighting the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in supporting long-term economic growth. The next year, ‘Exporting Extinction’ focused on the role of commodity dependence in contributing to biodiversity loss and limiting conservation action. Latindadd’s series of empirical case studies on ‘Debt, Climate Crisis and Extractivism’ closed the circuit by tracing sovereign debt, austerity, commodity dependence, biodiversity loss, climate vulnerability and economic fragility across five Amazon basin countries. Finally, the ‘Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate’ reviewed these relationships and made specific recommendations regarding new approaches to sovereign finance and debt resolution.

On Tuesday, July 1 from 10:30AM-12:00PM CEST, join us and Latindadd for an Official Offsite FFD 4 Side Event that seeks to develop synergies, map progress and plan future paths for policy development.

Speakers:

- Audrey Irvine-Broque, PhD Student, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia

- Carlos Lozano, Indigenous youth leader, Chazuta, Peru

- Carola Mejía, Climate, Justice, Transitions and Amazon Coordinator, Latindadd

- Eva Martinez, Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales, Ecuador

- Jwala Rambarran, Senior Advisor, Financial Futures Center; Member, Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Monetary Fund

- Rebecca Ray, Senior Academic Researcher, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Aleksandar Rankovic (Moderator), Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Common Initiative