In search of a new roadmap for global development

In July 2024, we marked the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods agreements, which led to the creation of the World Bank and the IMF. Next year, the UN will also turn eighty. Born in a post-war era, these institutions that shape the international financial and cooperation architecture have survived several existential and identity transitions. Now, with the 2030 Agenda just around the corner, they are approaching a new turning point. It’s time to accelerate action.

In a world plagued by multiple crises, we cannot overlook the accumulated experience of these organizations; instead, we must harness it to find new solutions. On the horizon, we see the need to strengthen multilateralism to cushion the growing global polarization and the urgency of creating new financial instruments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and establish new cooperation frameworks beyond 2030. In Latin America and the Caribbean, for instance, it is estimated that two-thirds of these goals will not be met due to a lack of funding.

These major challenges, which regional organizations like CAF - the development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean - also face, are crucial to building a more equitable, democratic, safe, and environmentally respectful world. This cannot be achieved without more active collaboration between governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector, and new actors from the Global South.

Next week, we will discuss the present and future of the international financial and cooperation architecture at the UN General Assembly in New York, where the "Pact for the Future" will be presented. This initiative seeks to renew international cooperation, strengthen multilateralism, and create a new framework to address challenges like peace, security, human rights, and the green, digital, and social transitions. In this global forum, we must ensure that the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean is well represented.

The creation of the new roadmap for achieving the SDGs is not a technical issue, but a matter of political will. And this political will is focused on a clear objective: preventing development gaps from becoming entrenched and generating more inequalities.

Global discussions must restore hope to the region. Latin America and the Caribbean have faced all kinds of crises over the past 15 years, leading to stagnant growth, productivity, and middle-class expansion, increased poverty, and, as a result, growing disillusionment with democracies and a lack of trust in institutions.

One of the pillars of new global development must be financial instruments: we need them to be stronger, more innovative, scalable, and impactful, tailored to the diversity of regions like Latin America and the Caribbean.

For example, debt funds, the use of guarantees, or catastrophe insurance are viable solutions to finance projects like roads, energy networks, and water systems. These funds not only provide the necessary capital but also diversify funding sources and attract more investment for the projects. Debt-for-nature swaps, green bonds, and biodiversity certificates are other valuable instruments.

The “datafication” of natural assets is also an innovative approach that turns natural assets into quantifiable data, making it easier to identify opportunities for economic development while preserving ecosystems. This optimizes the management of natural resources and enables financing models that promote investment in green and resilient infrastructure.

Multilateral organizations play a crucial role in supporting the financing and risk mitigation of development projects and attracting international financial resources. At CAF, for example, we work to mobilize domestic savings towards all kinds of infrastructure, education, environmental, health, or territorial development projects, contributing to greater regional integration and a more stable environment for investment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Another pillar of the new development roadmap is global governance. Growing distrust in institutions is fueled by rising inequalities, economic crises, and the lack of effective responses to global issues such as climate change, pandemics, and armed conflicts. That’s why it’s important to strengthen governance at all levels to unlock development opportunities.

In 2024 and 2025, major global meetings will take place where CAF will amplify the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean to have a greater influence on development financing trends over the next decade. The upcoming UN General Assembly, COP16 in Cali, G20 in Rio de Janeiro, the Ibero-American Summit in Cuenca, APEC in Lima, COP30 in Brazil, and the Sustainable Financing Summit in Seville in July 2025 will also be key platforms to update multilateral and financial systems.

Latin America and the Caribbean must arrive at these key meetings with a strong position to facilitate a greater flow of resources for sustainable development and expand the access that Ibero-American countries have to financing.