Looking ahead into 2021, the ongoing effects of the pandemic continue to impact on countries and their economies. For the Pacific, with relatively vulnerable public health systems and geographical remoteness, Governments moved quickly to close borders in order to avoid large scale community transmission, potential collapse of health systems and most importantly to avoid any fatalities due to COVID-19. 

In this paper we use the United Nations Global Policy Model (GPM) to make projections to 2030 in order to help clarify some of the likely major Economic and Environmental challenges facing Developing Economies in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper also describes the dynamics and potential impact on Developing Economies of changes that could help the world to make substantial progress by 2040 in reaching the ambitious, but absolutely necessary, target of Zero Net Carbon Emissions by midcentury.

In 2020, the Latin American and Caribbean region faced the worst crisis on historical record and the sharpest economic contraction (-7.7% and -20%, respectively, in GDP and investment growth for 2020) within the developing world. The available data also show that the contraction of investment relative to that of GDP was greater in Latin America and the Caribbean than in other developing regions.

The objective of this paper is to measure and track financial stress in these six fragile emerging economies in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, using UNCTAD financial conditions indicators.

The paper argues that there is a need for better tools to measure financial stress in the context of growing instabilities and complexities in international and domestic financial markets.