FDL is pleased to announce its support to the Expert Review on Debt, Nature, and Climate.
Established by the governments of Colombia, Kenya, France, and Germany, the Review will be conducted by an Independent Expert Group with diverse experience in debt, nature, and climate. The Interim Report will be published in October 2024, and the final report in spring 2025.
The Review is supported by a Secretariat from four research institutes: the UN Economic Commission for Latin America, ODI, the Finance for Development Lab (FDL), and the Africa Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET).
FDL and Rockefeller Foundation Join Forces to Build a Fairer, More Equitable Global Debt Architecture
FDL is pleased to announce the receipt of a significant grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, underscoring the commitment of both organisations to address the need for significant reform in the international financial architecture through cutting-edge economic research and innovative policy proposals.
This collaboration with The Rockefeller Foundation was initiated by FDL’s former Chair and founder, the late Daniel Cohen, who was one of the most esteemed macroeconomists of his generation and a leading figure on sovereign debt. The programme is a tribute to his legacy of fighting extreme poverty and advancing economic progress in the developing world. It will enable FDL to expand its impact and address pressing economic challenges, working towards creating a more equitable financial architecture that prioritises the borrower's perspective.
Lead by the "MENA Commission on Stabilization and Growth", this Project is managed under the auspices of the Finance for Development Lab and the Economic Research Forum.
The Finance for Development Lab is an independent non-profit, non-partisan think-tank dedicated to building a fairer and more effective architecture for international finance.
Acting as a hub for policy discussions, the Lab collaborates with think-tanks, researchers, and other key stakeholders across the Global South to generate constructive ideas, craft innovative proposals, and influence global policymakers, with a particular focus on G20 countries and Bretton Woods institutions.
The Lab is housed at the CEPREMAP, a leading French research institute located within the Paris School of Economics. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and amid growing geopolitical uncertainty, the global financial architecture is increasingly unable to finance the Sustainable Development Goals and to support countries in the fight against climate change.
Furthermore, we believe that the interests of low- and middle-income countries are currently not adequately represented in global decision centres, jeopardising their ability to achieve sustainable development.
The Lab’s mission is to fill existing knowledge and perception gaps by serving as a specialised research and discussion forum specifically focused on development finance and debt related issues. We do so by collaborating with research partners across the Global South, and disseminating recommendations among international decision centres. To achieve our mission, we provide experts in developing countries with research support, and with assistance in disseminating and channelling their ideas and policy proposals as effectively as possible.
Our work is organised around three key pillars: financing, debt and multilateralism.
Financing models need to be adapted to today’s context of recurrent crises
• Better allocate Special Drawing Rights and extend the Global Financial Safety Net
• Improve investment from private sources to help advance sustainable development.
Debt sustainability is increasingly fragile. Our proposals focus on:
• Fostering more collaborative approaches between creditors and debtors
• Redefine the role of international organisations
• Revising our understanding of debt sustainability
Multilateralism is in danger and development finance is increasingly fragmented:
• Better understand the role of emerging lenders
• Foster mutual understanding between key stakeholders