Dear Reader,
The G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg and COP30 in Belém took place at a moment of acute strain on the multilateral system. Geopolitical divisions widened, major powers resisted deeper reforms, and petrostates blocked progress on fossil-fuel phaseout. Yet across both summits, coalitions of the willing pushed forward—keeping debt sustainability, climate ambition, and inclusive development high on the global agenda.
Over the year South Africa used its G20 presidency to place debt sustainability high on the agenda. The release of the Africa Expert Panel Report marked a significant milestone: African policymakers set out a borrower-led agenda for reform, calling for a refinancing initiative, a Borrowers’ Club, and stronger debt-resolution mechanisms. While the leaders’ communiqué stopped short of major breakthroughs, it reaffirmed commitments to debt sustainability and climate resilience, and highlighted the high cost of capital facing vulnerable economies.
At COP30, early momentum collided with familiar political red lines, especially on fossil-fuel phaseout. But negotiators still produced a meaningful package: tripled adaptation finance by 2035, a Just Transition Mechanism, and new climate-finance workstreams. And although the Baku–Belém Roadmap was merely “noted,” it spotlighted a truth that can no longer be sidelined: climate ambition is inseparable from fixing the debt and financing pressures constraining developing economies.
Outside Belém and Johannesburg, the EU–CELAC and EU–AU summits echoed the same demand: a more inclusive, more coherent international debt architecture.
Now the task ahead—across COP31, the upcoming G20 and G7 cycles, and the FfD4 follow up process—is to turn political appetite into real system change. Initiatives like the Borrower Platform and the forthcoming Seville Forum on Debt point to emerging spaces where debt, climate, and development priorities may finally be aligned. Even in an increasingly fractured global landscape, coordinated borrower voices and forward-leaning alliances are keeping the reform agenda moving.
For more insights read our full readout blog here.
Warm regards,
Your Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Team
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