Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
Developed countries have committed to providing and mobilising $100 billion of climate finance each year between 2020 and 2025. However, they fell short of this target in 2020 and 2021, and look likely to do so again in 2022. To date, failure to deliver on the climate finance goal has …
Two years might not be enough to have a full understanding of all that took place due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic since 2020, especially as the pandemic is still not over. But it is nonetheless imperative that institutions such as ours try to find instances, such as this, …
Africa’s climate resilience can be strengthened by redefining its economic model to leverage natural capital and designing financial systems to redirect critical nature-based investments. This report applies, for the first time, a quantitative risk assessment and stress-testing framework for financial institutions to the opportunities and risks relating to nature. The …
Global energy investment is set to increase by 8% in 2022 to reach USD 2.4 trillion, with the anticipated rise coming mainly in clean energy, according to this new report by the International Energy Agency. This year’s edition of the World Energy Investment report provides a full update on the …
African countries’ requests for information for tax collection purposes rose 26% over the previous year, signaling continued progress toward tax transparency in spite of a challenging environment, according to this report by The Africa Initiative. The Tax Transparency in Africa 2022 report, which covers 38 countries, documents Africa’s progress in …
Investment in renewable energy in India reached a record US$14.5 billion in the last financial year (FY2021-22), an increase of 125% compared to FY2020-21 and 72% over pre-pandemic FY2019-20, finds a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The surge in renewables investment comes on …
Flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) recovered to pre-pandemic levels last year, hitting nearly $1.6 trillion but the prospects for this year are grimmer the latest UNCTAD World Investment Report said.The report entitled "International tax reforms and sustainable investment" said that to cope with an environment of uncertainty and risk …
800% increase in UN appeal needs for extreme weather-related emergencies over last 20 years – new Oxfam research. The amount of money needed for UN humanitarian appeals involving extreme weather events like floods or drought is now eight times higher than 20 years ago — and donors are failing to …
Climate change is imposing a transformative process on agricultural and food systems, threatening the livelihoods of people dependent on them, which includes a large proportion of the world’s poor people. Moving to a process that contributes to improving rather than endangering livelihoods is the challenge that climate change adaptation and …
Investment is an important driver of economic growth with important implications for debt sustainability. Investment efficiency gaps adversely impact debt sustainability in Africa. The current heightened fiscal vulnerabilities can be attributed to external factors including volatile commodity prices particularly for commodity-exporting countries and health challenges like COVID-19 pandemic that weakened …
The deep economic transformation of India will be accompanied by rapid growth in passenger and freight demand and require a transition to more sustainable transport solutions. In this context, electric mobility (e-mobility) is anticipated to play a major role in India’s transport transition during this decade. The Government of India …
Report filed by the Principal Secretary, Forest & Wildlife Department, Kerala on steps taken for forest fire protection. The dedicated central scheme on Fire Prevention and Management Scheme (FPMS) offers very little in terms of finances for the state forest departments to embark on anything substantial on the work front. …
Macroeconomic impacts caused by climate change may create significant credit, market, and operational risks for financial institutions. Considering these risks, many firms are beginning to explore the integration of macroeconomic impacts into climate scenario analysis. To advance financial industry knowledge on this important topic, UNEP FI and UK-based National Institute …
India’s ambitions of increasing its non-fossil fuel based energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 are formidable and present a unique set of opportunities and execution challenges. The debt requirement for an additional 340 GW Renewable Energy (RE) target works out to ~ Rs. 14 Lakh Cr over a period …
The report presents an overview of current knowledge and thinking concerning the effectiveness of three distinct layers of financing that set out to address drought risks in different ways. For each of these, results are conceptualized and measured in different ways for disaster risk reduction, adaptation to climate change, and …
Despite years of donor country engagement, developing countries’ efforts to fight climate change and its consequences remain stifled by important capacity gaps. This paper reviews the experience of development co-operation partners in strengthening capacities in this area. It provides an in-depth analysis of official development assistance trends and flows, as …
The Africa Wealth Report is the continent’s annual benchmark for private wealth research. Now in its 7th year, the report provides the most comprehensive review of the wealth sector in Africa, including trends among high-net-worth individuals, the luxury market, and wealth management. The report reveals that total private wealth currently …
The International Monetary Fund slashed its forecast for global economic growth by nearly a full percentage point, citing Russia's war in Ukraine, and warning that inflation was now a "clear and present danger" for many countries. The war is expected to slow growth and further increase inflation, the IMF said …
South Asia’s growth rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, the uneven recovery from the pandemic has left countries in South Asia with multiple policy challenges, which are exacerbated by the impact of the war in Ukraine. While several countries are navigating rising inflation and growing difficulties to finance fiscal …
Developing countries still have to regain lost ground from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has put more countries at risk of debt distress, constrained their fiscal space and hampered economic growth. The war in Ukraine is exacerbating all these challenges. In this context, the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report …
