Publications

The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) is due to take place in Seville, Spain from 30 June to 3 July 2025. According to the United Nations (UN) Member States, the conference is designed to assess progress and obstacles in implementing the outcomes of the three previous FfD conferences in Monterrey (2002), Doha (2008) and Addis Ababa (2015), as well as agreeing on measures and initiatives to overcome obstacles and address new challenges in the face of global [...]

From December 16 to 20, 2024, 74 states came together at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to negotiate an international legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises (also known as a “UN Treaty”). Since the adoption of Resolution 26/9 by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014, the intergovernmental working group mandated to draft such a treaty has already met ten times. The meeting was postponed from mid-October to December due [...]

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will take place in Seville in June 2025. This is against the backdrop of massive delays in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, not least due to deficits in development financing. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) financing gap, which was estimated at US$ 2.5 trillion in 2015, has not been closed or reduced over the last decade. Instead, it has grown to over US$ 4 trillion annually. In addition, the decade [...]

The process towards a legally binding instrument on business and human rights (also known as the “UN Treaty”) has now been underway for a decade. The initiative is based on the realisation that the activities of transnationally operating companies are not sufficiently regulated under human rights law. The transnational nature of these companies, their economic power and unilaterally formulated investment protection agreements often make it difficult to hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable and to provide victims with [...]

The international financial architecture is in urgent need of reform. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, it is "outdated, dysfunctional and unjust". The main institutions were created 80 years ago in a transatlantic agreement, at a time when many of the world's nation-states of today were still colonies. Moreover, the institutions have failed in their mission to prevent and mitigate crises and to mobilize sufficient financing for internationally agreed development goals.

The reform of the international financial architecture [...]

In December 2023, the United Nations General Assembly finally gave the mandate to convene the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). In a challenging economic and geopolitical environment, high expectations are placed on the conference. On the one hand, ways and means are to be found to mobilize additional funds in order to at least significantly reduce the enormous financing gaps in development and climate action. On the other hand, FfD4 is also intended to be a milestone [...]

Calls for reforms of the international financial architecture are becoming ever louder. Governments, UN institutions, expert groups and civil society organizations are criticizing the fact that the network of institutions and rules that currently determine global monetary and financial policy and control global financial flows are not up to the current crises. The international financial architecture is “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair”, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

In view of these challenges, the UN Member States made the reform of [...]

From October 23 to 27, 2023, 76 states met at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to negotiate an international human rights treaty to regulate companies and their value chains (also known as the “UN Treaty”). Since the UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 26/9 in 2014 and mandated an intergovernmental working group to draft such legally binding instrument, it has met nine times. After a slow start, the process has emerged surprisingly stronger from the ninth round of [...]

The adequate mobilization of climate finance remains one of the greatest challenges of our time. Under the United Nations (UN) climate agreements, rich countries have pledged to support the global South in the fight against climate change and the associated human rights violations through financial transfers. However, the repeated failure to meet the corresponding target of providing US$ 100 billion per year has led to diplomatic tensions and is one of the main reasons for the lack of success in [...]

Private foundations play an increasingly important and influential role in global health; however, this role has been poorly monitored and largely unevaluated, prompting calls for greater accountability. At a minimum level, clear information should be provided about their grant-making activities. We describe the global health granting patterns of three private foundations: the Rockefeller Foundation (RF), the Wellcome Trust (WT), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), using data publicly available on their websites, for the years 2018 – 2020 [...]