The recent Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact was touted by its organisers, including the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as a groundbreaking initiative to forge a ‘new contract’ between the global north and south that would address climate change and foster sustainable development. The fact that most G20 leaders did not even bother to show up, however, casts doubt on the feasibility of the effort.

Despite the participation of roughly 50 heads of state, high-ranking representatives of international institutions, private-sector executives and climate experts, the summit did not live up to its lofty promises. It failed to introduce the necessary measures to narrow the climate-finance gap, provide lower-income countries with the fiscal space they need to weather the current debt crisis and overhaul the global financial architecture.

Shockingly, the summit concluded without a single firm commitment.

Read the article by Jayathi Ghosh and others