SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance Researchers at the UN’s Financing for Development Forum
Dr Marina Zucker-Marques and Professor Ulrich Volz contribute to UN convening on financing for development
Dr Marina Zucker-Marques, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, and Professor Ulrich Volz, the Director of the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, participated in the United Nations’ Financing for Development Forum. The 2023 Financing for Development Forum was held from 17 to 20 April 2023 at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Financing for Development Forum provides a platform for inclusive, multi-stakeholder dialogue to address the current global challenges and advance policies for financing long-term sustainable development priorities.
On 17 April, the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance co-organised a high-level dinner event at the German House, Germany’s representation at the UN. The dinner convened leaders from UN organisations, governments, and civil society. Opening remarks were delivered by Dr Jürgen Zattler, Director-General for International Development Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Achim Steiner, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Professor Volz subsequently presented the key takeaways from the latest report and the proposals of the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project. This was followed by a discussion with all participants moderated by Yuefen Li, a Senior Advisor on South-South Cooperation and Development Finance at the South Centre and Co-chair of the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project.
On 18 April, the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance convened an official side event at the UN headquarters. The event, called “This Time Must Be Different: Reforming the International Debt Architecture for Green and Inclusive Development”, discussed ways of improving the international debt architecture and tackle the sovereign debt crisis that is unfolding across the Global South. The event was moderated by Marina Zucker-Marques, with Shari Spiegel, the Chief of Policy Analysis & Development at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Daniel Munevar, Economics Affairs Officer at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and Ulrich Volz as panellists. The event was co-organised with the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung as part of the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project.
Professor Volz also spoke on a panel on “Rethinking Public Debt Policies for the SDGs: Regional Perspectives” jointly organised by all four United Nations Regional Commissions. The event discussed potential policy options and approaches to deal with sovereign debt distress while keeping in view the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and long-term climate ambitions. Professor Volz was joined by H.E. Shehan Semasinghe, State Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka; Pedro Manuel Moreno, the Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD; Hanan Morsy, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa; Elisa Parisi-Capone, Vice President at Moody’s Investors Service; and Shari Spiegel. The panel was moderated by Hamza Malik, Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.