Achim Steiner says cuts to development budget are shortsighted in an interconnected global economy
Spending more on defence will be pointless unless western governments also tackle the climate crisis in poor countries, the UN’s departing chief of international development has warned.
“The more you restrict your ability to act by simply focusing on what’s happening inside your country, the more vulnerable you become,” said Achim Steiner, who recently completed his second term as administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which works on overseas aid and lifting people out of poverty. “Vulnerability can then very quickly translate into a very real crisis scenario.”
Many countries – the US, the UK and some EU member states included – are increasing their defence budgets, but sharply reducing their spending on international aid. Steiner said this was shortsighted.
“The more we defund [aid to and cooperation with developing countries], the more we lose the ability to act,” he said. “There is a loss of control, because you no longer can cooperate with countries that you depend on to solve these problems [such as the climate]. You are curtailing your own ability to create a more resilient national economy, in this world of interconnectedness.”
