The Trade and Development Report 2019 suggests that meeting the financing demands of the Agenda 2030 requires rebuilding multilateralism around the idea of a Global Green New Deal, and pursuing a financial future very different from the recent past. The place to begin building such a future is with a serious discussion of public financing options, as part of a wider process of repairing the social contract on which inclusive and sustainable outcomes can emerge and from which private finance can be engaged on more socially productive terms.

This background paper analyzes the interplay of environmental vulnerabilities, natural disasters and high levels of public debt for the mobilization of resources towards climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts in the Caribbean region. Countries in the region represent an interesting case study given their characteristics. First, countries in the Caribbean share a series of structural features which renders them vulnerable to external shocks beyond their control.

The COVID-19 shock affected the financial conditions in developing countries through many transmission channels, including capital outflows, plunges in commodity prices and currency depreciation.

The UNCTAD SDFA provides insight on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the external financial sustainability and public debt sustainability of selected developing countries. It identifies the development finance needs of selected beneficiary countries to achieve the most significant SDGs and how to make this compatible with external financial sustainability and public debt sustainability.

UNCTAD Global Policy Model (GPM)