DRGR Round Up: 2025 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings

Newsletter
Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery

Dear Reader,

As the 2025 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank unfold this week, anticipation and uncertainty are running high. Mounting criticism and political pressure — particularly from the United States — have led to a debate about the mandate of the Bretton Woods institutions, with calls to scale back their climate focus in favor of traditional economic stabilization roles.

At the same time, questions of fairness and consistency are resurfacing. The substantial support extended by the IMF and the U.S. Treasury to Argentina under President Milei stands in sharp contrast to the limited assistance offered to other heavily indebted countries still struggling to manage their crises alone.

These dynamics highlight deepening unease about the state of multilateralism and the ability of international financial institutions to respond equitably and effectively to the worsening debt distress across Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs). Recent research from the DRGR Project has focused on the regions most exposed to this crisis: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Asia and the Pacific, and Africa.

Against this backdrop, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Centre for Sustainable Finance, SOAS, University of London, and the Atlantic Council are co-hosting an event this week to explore pathways for cooperative and sustainable responses in an increasingly fragmented world. The side event will be on October 14 during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings and livestreamed.

In a new opinion piece Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ulrich Volz and Alex Dryden take a closer look at the LAC region, arguing that Europe must move beyond the complacency evident in the Bretton Woods institutions and the G20 to actively support structural reforms addressing the debt crisis. In line with this approach, the DRGR Project also convened a high-level seminar with partners in Brussels, discussing the role of debt sustainability ahead of the upcoming EU-AU Summit in Luanda. Explore this edition of our newsletter to find out more.

Warm regards,

Your Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Team

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Research

Bird eye's view on a lush lake landscape Guatapé, Colombia

Public Debt and Resilient Futures in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean face a mounting debt crisis that is eroding fiscal space, slowing progress on development goals, and deepening vulnerability to climate shocks. In a new study Ulrich Volz, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, and Alex Dryden analyse the region's recent debt dynamics, its climate risks as well as the potential of innovative debt instruments, such as debt-for-nature swaps and disaster clauses.

Read the summary blog.

TO THE POLICY BRIEF

Africa's Vicious Cycle of Debt and Climate Change

Africa has contributed the least to the climate crisis, yet faces some of its harshest impacts. A new policy brief examines how African governments are trapped between spiraling debt payments—often larger than their health budgets—and the rising costs of climate disasters. It explores recent policy developments on debt and argues that only bold reforms linking debt treatment to climate and development goals can break this vicious cycle.

Read the summary blog.

TO THE POLICY BRIEF

Bird's eye view on a rapeseed field in Sirajganj, Bangladesh

Debt, Climate and Development in Asia and the Pacific: Breaking the Vicious Cycle

This Asian Development Bank Institute working paper examines how the debt vulnerabilities in the Asia and Pacific region are worsening—driven by climate disasters and structural development gaps. It highlights how unsustainable debt burdens threaten sovereign fiscal stability and undermine the ability of developing economies to meet their climate goals. The authors call for concerted efforts to proactively tackle sovereign debt problems—efforts that, in some cases, will require significant debt relief as a pathway to sustainable growth.

TO THE WORKING PAPER

Upcoming Event at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings

Bird's eye view on Tizi N'Tichka, Morocco

Sovereign Debt, the Climate Challenge, and Geoeconomics: Pathways for a Sustainable Global Response

The global sovereign debt landscape is increasingly defined not only by economic growth, inflation, fiscal policy and interest rates, but also by geopolitics and geoeconomics. Trade disruptions, shifting capital flows, strategic rivalries, and investment decisions now decisively shape debt sustainability. Against this backdrop, the Atlantic Council, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, University of London will co-host a high-level dialogue during the 2025 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings. The event will explore pathways to address debt sustainability, climate and growth challenges in an era of geopolitical fragmentation. Follow the event here via livestream.

TO THE EVENT

Event Summary: Sovereign Debt in the Context of the AU-EU summit

Tackling the Triple Crisis of Debt, Climate, and Development

In the run-up to the EU-AU Summit in Luanda in November, the DRGR Project hosted a high-level seminar in Brussels, featuring high-level speakers such as Nana Akufo-Addo, former President of Ghana (his speech can be accessed here) and Lavina Ramkissoon, Ambassador to the African Union. Their message was clear: Adressing the debt crisis is not charity, it is an investment into the partnership and a green and prosperous future, as the EU Observer reported. The seminar was jointly organized by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Brussels, Caritas Africa, Caritas Europa, the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Misereor and the European Think Tank Group (ETTG).

TO THE RECORDING

Further information on our website

Contact: Sarah Ribbert, ribbert@boell.de

This newsletter is sent to you by Heinrich Böll Foundation on behalf of the DRGR Project, in cooperation with Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London.

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Photos: Header: Omer Dvori, cc-by-sa 4.0. Research: Guatapé, Antioquia, Colombia by Mike Swigunski, Unsplash, Public Domain; Yaoundé, Cameroon by Ariel Nathan ADA MBITA, Unsplash , Public Domain; Sirajganj, Bangladesh by Manzur Alam, Unsplash, Public Domain. Event: Tizi N'Tichka, Morocco by Mark Kuiper, Public Domain. Recording: Brussels, Belgium by Sarah Ribbert, cc by-nc-nd.

Sender: Heinrich Böll Foundation, The Green Political Foundation, info@boell.de

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