Indebting the Green Transition

Discussions about the sovereign debt-climate crisis nexus are grinding on in formal spaces like the United Nations and World Bank, but systemic and transformative change appears to remain a distant prospect—even as the need for urgent action intensifies. To hasten climate and economic justice action, it is critical to build a shared and cohesive evaluation of existing proposals on reform of the international financial architecture while building alternatives that can achieve more substantial change. To take steps toward these critical objectives, the authors of this briefing organized a series of three global calls to gather leading civil society organizations and academic researchers on global political economy and the climate crisis, leading to an in-person convening in Washington, DC on April 20-21, 2024. This briefing, summarizing the issues discussed during these gatherings, offers insight into where some of the world’s most dedicated scholars and activists see critical issues arising (or festering) in terms of the challenges of confronting both onerous sovereign debt and of enabling just transitions to the climate crisis, the key concepts necessary to interpret those issues, and research and advocacy pathways toward achieving structural changes that sum to climate and fiscal justice.