MADRID/LONDON: Scores of world leaders will be sweltering in the summer sun of southern Spain next week at a once-a-decade United Nations development financing summit aimed at curbing global poverty, disease and the worst-case threats of climate change.
Despite the scorching temperatures, though, a major chill looms over the event – the decision early this month by the United States, traditionally the world’s largest aid giver and key finance provider, not to show up.
UN countries want to close a $4 trillion-a-year funding gap they now estimate prevents the developing world achieving the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals that range from cutting infant death rates to minimizing global warming.
Critics say the promises at the heart of the conference – called the “Seville Commitment” – are nowhere near bold enough.
The measures, agreed by consensus after a year of tough negotiations, include tripling multilateral lending capacity, debt relief, a push to boost tax-to-GDP ratios to at least 15 percent, and shifting special IMF money to countries that need it most.
