Kapuscinski Development Lecture: From polycrisis towards inclusive and sustainable international development

Under the best of international circumstances, the policy challenges posed by cascading crises would be daunting. But we are far from the “best”.

In a world already fractured by a health pandemic and trade tensions, the war in Ukraine has deepened divisions. Trust and solidarity between governments – key pillars of a stable international order – appear to be in short supply. At the same time, the institutions of global economic governance have been hampered by insufficient resources and policy tools, and options that are “rigid and old fashioned”.

Effective global governance in support of shared goals cannot be limited to formal talk of a "rules-based international order”.

Achieving these goals requires a set of common principles and effective mechanisms that can help mobilise resources and coordinate policies in countries with very different government and private sector capacities. The agenda for that discussion arises from unresolved international development dilemmas (in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and recent UN development reports) in a fractured world, and in the context of the many crises and challenges currently facing the international community.

Join #KAPTalks lecturer Richard Kozul-Wright, Director of the Globalisation and Development Strategies Division in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to make sense of these developments.  What deeper changes in the governance of the international economy will be needed if more inclusive and sustainable outcomes are to be realised?

The Kapuscinski Development Lectures is an initiative funded by the European Commission.