ODI | Think Change ODI

Small island developing states (SIDS) suffer disproportionately from external shocks. They face an existential threat from the climate emergency, while global economic uncertainty and geopolitical shifts have derailed recent progress that SIDS have made towards achieving growth and resilience.That’s why governments of SIDS and their international partners met in Antigua and Barbuda a fortnight ago for the SIDS4 conference, which aimed to formulate a 10-year action plan intended to chart ‘the ...

Time is running out to keep the climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement within reach. Wealthy countries have introduced new industrial and green trade policy measures, but there are concerns that some of these are having adverse effects – hitting countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis the hardest.This episode examines the concept of the ‘green squeeze’ – the notion that climate-related trade policies are negatively impacting low-income countries, unfairly putting...

The Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace was signed last year at COP28 in Dubai. This recognised the unique challenge of addressing the climate emergency in areas affected by conflict and fragility, and called for “bolder, collective action” to support them.But what does this look like in practice?Despite being among the most vulnerable to climate change, conflict-affected countries receive just a fraction of the climate finance that is allocated to more stable regions.As we bui...

The question of how multilateral development banks need to reform themselves so they are fit to face today's global challenges was again high on the agenda at the recent World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.These debates and recommendations for reform can be technical and complex, but what do the people these financial institutions were set up to serve think about what changes are needed?This episode, which was recorded from the sidelines of the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C...

The crises of hunger in Sudan and Gaza are grave humanitarian emergencies with profound consequences for affected communities.A recent UN briefing to the Security Council stated that Sudan is set to face the “world’s worst hunger crisis”, while an international committee of experts issued a dire warning that famine is not only imminent in Northern Gaza, but a risk across the entire territory.While man-made famine continues to be used as a weapon of war for political gain, the prevailing respo...

Global public debt is at unprecedented levels. The UN has reported that nearly half of the world’s population lives in countries that spend more paying off debts to other countries than they spend on healthcare for their own people.While needs soar as countries try to address the impact of the poly-crisis and invest significantly to transform their economies and societies, economic growth is in sharp retreat in many nations in the Global South.The World Bank is calling for donor governments t...