Paris Summit’s transformative agenda for global financing

Paris Summit’s transformative agenda for global financing

A key summit for ‘A New Global Financing Pact’ of more than forty world leaders took place last month in Paris. Though it did not get enough media attention, this summit hosted by France was one of the key meetings of countries leading up to the UN Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai later this year. Despite President Macron’s energetic effort and leaders from countries who tried to develop a more inclusive and just arrangement in achieving climate financing and addressing poverty and public health challenges in the Global South, the summit could not deliver the transformative breakthroughs that are desperately needed at this critical time. After a rather disappointing COP27, President Macron announced to host this summit, where he had hoped that the world leaders could deliver big on their climate finance commitment. The issues that need urgent and serious attention are climate, energy, health, and economic crises, particularly in the most vulnerable countries. The financing needed to address these crises was central to the discussion in Paris. However, the rich countries were hesitant to meaningfully engage with the low and middle-income countries’ demands for debt relief and increased financing for climate action. What was missing in the New Global