Scratch beneath the surface, and so-called green investments often reveal to be contributing to environmentally harmful activities. With voluntary pledges shown wanting, governments and regulators must urgently mandate for better transparency and accountability in sustainable investing
Global
The promise of trillion-dollar sustainable finance initiatives rests on a triple fallacy: that we can make sense of them, that they are a measure of money that is available to finance or support climate-related causes, and that someone has structured and organized control over these amounts. It’s time to accept their extremely limited utility and move on
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa’s vast natural wealth includes many critical minerals needed for the green economy. Historically, this wealth has not benefited local populations and resource extraction has caused environmental damage. How can Africa’s peoples and environment become the beneficiaries of this natural bounty?
How can MICs, currently driving much of the world’s growth, ensure that their rapid industrialization is sustainable?
Despite their limited means, many of the world’s poorest countries are leading the way in cutting emissions and taking bold action on adaptation. The rest of the world must step up support for LDCs – and follow their example
There is a growing chorus calling for delays to net-zero initiatives, blaming climate action for the current cost of living crisis. In reality, green investment can offer a path out of the economic troubles that have been building since the start of the century
Massive investment is needed in infrastructure to achieve the transition to clean energy and create resilience against the impacts of global warming. The scale of investment – as much as $9 trillion per year – exceeds the capabilities of public finance and will rely on aligning private sector financing. Green or climate bonds seem an obvious instrument for the task – are they the killer solution?
The EU’s unilateral approach to curb deforestation through restrictions on imports sends a powerful message, but will it deliver? Here, the authors argue that successful global action on deforestation calls for a carefully balanced system of tariffs and subsidies from a wider coalition of countries
In the words of the UN Secretary-General, developing countries have limited access to the financial resources they need to address the dramatic challenges they face and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global financial architecture, created for a very different world eight decades ago, needs urgent reform to make it fit for purpose
Sub-Saharan Africa
For most countries, public finance, raised through tax, should be the primary source of investment in the SDGs. How can developing countries increase their tax receipts, fairly and efficiently?
