2025 is crucial for multilateralism. The challenges before us – inequality, climate change, and the gaps in funding for sustainable development – are urgent and interrelated. To deal with them, it requires bold and coordinated actions rather than isolation, one-sided actions or retreat to confusion.
The three major global gatherings offer unique opportunities to graph the path to a more just, inclusive and sustainable world. 4th Financing Conference for International Development (FFD4), 30th Party Conference (COP30) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the G20 Summit of Johannansburg (Brazil) in Seville (Spain). These meetings should not be business as usual. It must bring about real progress.
Multilateral moments we cannot waste
Trust in multilateral institutions is tense, but the need for dialogue and global cooperation is more than ever before. Multilateralism, where ambitious and action orientations continue to be the most effective tool for addressing common challenges and promoting common interests, must be reaffirmed.
We must build on the success of multilateralism, particularly the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. FFD4, COP30, and G20 should serve as milestones in new commitment to inclusion, sustainable development, and shared prosperity. This requires a strong political will, full participation of all relevant stakeholders, creative thinking, and the ability to understand all economic constraints and priorities.
Addressing inequality through new financial construction
Income inequality is growing. Many developing countries struggle under unsustainable debt burdens, constrained financial space, and barriers to fair access to capital. Basic services such as health and education must compete with increased interest rates.
This is not just a moral failure. It is an economic risk for everyone. Global financial architectures must be reformed to provide greater voice and representation to the countries of the Global South, and to provide access to more equitable and more predictable resources.
We need to advance our debt relief initiatives, promote innovative financing mechanisms, and address the causes of the high capital costs that most developing countries face. The G20 prioritizes these three areas under the President of South Africa.
At the same time, Seville’s FFD4 will be a critical moment to ensure a commitment for stronger international financial cooperation for sustainable development, including better taxation of global wealth and negative externalities, strengthening domestic resource mobilization, and more influential and effective re-announcement of special drawing rights.
Just move towards climate-sensitive development
For many developing countries, the climate transition is just out of reach due to lack of funding and development constraints. This needs to be changed. At Belém’s COP30, a summit held in the heart of Amazon, climate funding commitments must be made to tangible action.
The success of COP30 depends on whether it is possible to bridge the gap between promise and delivery. Under the UNFCCC, COP30’s major foundations will be newly ambitiously determined contributions (NDC) from all parties and the Belém roadmap submission from Baku, expanding funding to developing countries from all public and private sources to at least $1.3 trillion from all public and private sources by 2025.
Climate adaptation finance should be significantly increased, leveraging private sector investments, and ensure that multilateral development banks play a greater role in climate financing. Seville’s FFD4 complements these efforts by ensuring that climate financing is not at the expense of development.
Comprehensive response to global threats
The world is becoming increasingly fragmented, and this is precisely why we must double our efforts to find a common foundation. Seville, Belem and Johannesburg must act as beacons of multilateral cooperation, indicating that nations can unite around common interests.
In Seville, we will recognize that financial stability and climate action are inseparable and strive to mobilize both public and private capital for sustainable development. In Belem, we stand together to protect the planet. And in Johannesburg, the G20 reaffirms the importance of inclusive economic growth.
While we look forward to 2025, we are calling for promotion to all countries, international organizations, the private sector and civil society at this time. Multilateralism can provide it.
(Source: Al Jazeera)