Development Finance & Tax Justice - Archive

Watch the recording (skip to minute 17:30 to watch Bodo's presentation on the "Cost of capital", which is based on our briefing paper "The price of money")

Developing countries continue to struggle with unfair and unequitable borrowing costs and practices. The roots of the problem are complex and intertwined. The Compromiso de Sevilla calls for the establishment of a working group to propose a consolidated set of voluntary guiding principles on responsible sovereign borrowing and lending. 

However, even assuming that [...]

This briefing assesses the outcomes of the 2026 UN Financing for Development Forum, examining whether it delivered meaningful progress on implementing the Sevilla commitments or reflected broader paralysis in global economic governance. It finds that the forum largely failed to advance implementation, with weak outcomes, misplaced priorities in the agenda, and growing divergence among Member States limiting progress.

This month, the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) almost simultaneously released reports on development finance. The OECD’s data on official development assistance (ODA) for 2025 revealed a dramatic 23.1 percent decline in a single year – the largest drop the world has ever seen. The UN’s Financing Sustainable Development Report 2026 explores whether other sources of finance might fill this growing development financing gap. 

The collapse of ODA

“Never before have we seen [...]

Can the UN Financing for Development Forum in April deliver progress? Join us for a live discussion with participants in New York, offering first-hand insights into the political dynamics, key fault lines, and prospects for implementation.

The fourth round of negotiations on a UN framework convention on tax took place in New York from 2 to 13 February 2026. Discussions focused on establishing common international rules to improve the taxation of multinational corporations and extreme wealth, in line with sustainable development and human rights. In addition to the convention text itself, two protocols were discussed: one on the taxation of cross-border services, and one on the prevention and resolution of tax disputes.

1. The taxation of [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

The past two years have felt like a marathon of summits. In particular, the United Nations (UN) Summit of the Future in September 2024 and the International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla in July 2025 placed international financial architecture reform firmly at the top of the global agenda. 

Looking ahead to 2026, policy debate and institutional development are likely to unfold in a more fragmented manner, across a range of forums within the multilateral system [...]

The G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg in late November offered a once-in-20-years opportunity to promote a specific African agenda through the G20. The South African government set high expectations when it chose the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” for its presidency. 

As the G20’s only African member, South Africa concluded a series of four consecutive Global South presidencies – beginning with Indonesia in 2022, followed by India and Brazil. It also concludes the first full cycle of G20 Leaders’ Summits, which [...]

It was unprecedented in the history of multilateralism: The third round of negotiations on a UN tax convention marked the first time global tax negotiations took place on the African continent. Unlike OECD negotiations, the UN talks were not held behind closed doors, which enabled numerous civil society representatives and trade union organisations to travel to Nairobi to critically monitor them. Like the group of African states, they have long called for a paradigm shift in the taxation of multinational [...]

The 16th Ministerial Conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 16) took place last week amid global trade disruptions and a severe funding crisis across the UN system. While these challenges underscore the growing importance of UNCTAD’s role as a heterodox body for trade and other economic policies, they also made it a difficult moment to define the organization’s mandate for the next four years. Nevertheless, the outcome document was adopted by consensus and [...]

Governments in the global south pay significantly higher interest rates on loans and bonds than governments in the global north. This financial divide is a key cause of disparities in prosperity and development around the world. The price of money determines the extent to which a state can provide goods and services for its citizens like healthcare and education. It also determines how far necessary transformations, such as climate change adaptation, can be financed from domestic resources.

The issue has [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is traditionally the key standard-setter and coordination body for official development assistance (ODA) – commonly known as aid. The current situation – where donors are slashing ODA at a record pace and diminishing its effectiveness by using scarce resources to promote national interests – is a challenge for the DAC, whose role includes ensuring accountability vis-à-vis commitments made. 

Political declarations on more and better ODA [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

Creating better institutions for international tax cooperation is considered a key pillar of international financial architecture reform. The first round of negotiations for a comprehensive United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (FCITC) has just concluded at the UN headquarters in New York City. 

Building on preparations by three working groups, the negotiations lasted for two weeks and dealt with the core Framework Convention, as well as two additional protocols – on taxing cross-border services [...]

 

We have just launched our four-part weekly podcast series 'Global Finance Rewired', which explores the future of the international finance architecture (IFA). Hosted by our Managing Director Bodo Ellmers, the series features expert voices from the Global South to examine how global finance must change to meet today’s challenges.

Episodes

1. Tax justice and the UN Tax Convention
   Chenai C. Mukumba (Tax Justice Network Africa) offers insights into the new Convention’s potential to curb illicit flows and usher in [...]

From 30 June to 3 July 2025, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) took place in Sevilla, Spain. According to the United Nations (UN) Member States, the conference was designed to assess progress and obstacles in implementing the decisions of the three previous conferences in Monterrey (2002), Doha (2008) and Addis Ababa (2015), as well as agreeing on measures and initiatives to overcome the obstacles and address new challenges in light of current global crises. The main [...]

The following text is a transcript of a video statement by Bodo Ellmers providing an overview of the final day of the FfD4 conference in Sevilla. You can find the video here.

The final day of the conference focused on systemic issues – namely, the reform of the international financial architecture, including institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

A central theme was Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Many countries from the Global South voiced disappointment that the conference could [...]

The following text is a transcript of a video statement by Bodo Ellmers providing an overview of his third day at the FfD4 conference. You can find the video here.

Day three of the #FfD4 conference in Sevilla centred on two critical and politically charged issues: Trade and debt.

In the wake of renewed tariff disputes, trade featured prominently on the agenda. But as Bodo Ellmers from Global Policy Forum Europe noted, the conference offered no real solutions — [...]

The following text is a transcript of a video statement by Bodo Ellmers in which he gives an overview of his second day at the FfD4 conference. You can find the video here.
 

The second day of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla continued with the general debate, as UN member states, from Azerbaijan to Cuba and Algeria to Luxembourg, presented their national priorities and visions for the future of development finance.

Beyond [...]

The rising debt burden of developing countries and the lack of adevelopment-oriented debt architecture are impairing their ability to provide essential services in health, education, and social protection, thereby jeopardizing basic human rights. FfD4 has strongly focused on addressing debt issues and has introduced measures to better respond to the needs of countries. 

The creditor-oriented international debt resolution architecture has been identified as one important element to be reformed to overcome and better manage future debt crisis situations. Inclusive, multilateral [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

Negotiations on the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) came to a sudden close on 17 June 2025, when the UN Preparatory Committee adopted the 'Compromiso de Sevilla' (Seville Commitment). Until the last moment, it was unclear whether the outcome document could be adopted by consensus, particularly given the USA's obstructive role in the final stages of the process. A draft document had been circulated to the parties under a [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

Negotiations on the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) came to a sudden close on 16 June, two weeks before the actual start of the conference in Sevilla. This is only the second time that negotiations have concluded prior to the start of the conference: During the second FfD conference in Doha in 2008 and the third in Addis Ababa in 2015, fierce negotiations continued on site.

Talks intensified in [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) – due to be held next month in Sevilla– aims to drive forward critical reforms to the international financial architecture and to help close the significant financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the fourth and final preparatory committee (PrepCom) meeting, held at the end of April at the UN headquarters in New York, revealed the remaining points of contention. As informal negotiations continue over [...]

From June 30 to July 3, 2025, the fourth International Conference on Development Finance (FfD4) will take place in Seville, Spain. Expectations are high, as the conference aims to mobilize the means to close the enormous financing gap in climate and sustainable development, and to advance the reforms in the international financial architecture.
However, current global developments counteract these goals. The U.S. administration fundamentally questions multilateralism. Several European governments are drastically cutting official development aid (ODA) due to economic pressure [...]

By Bodo Ellmers

The 2025 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank took place against the backdrop of two new and rather unexpected shocks. The first was the trade shock caused by the USA’s announcement of tariff hikes, which triggered similar actions by US trading partners. The second was the aid shock caused by massive cuts in official development assistance (ODA) made by donor countries on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Although the full impact [...]