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UN/DESA Policy Brief #63: The COVID-19 pandemic: A speedy and balanced recovery of Europe will remain critical for the world to return to the trajectory of sustainable development
A speedy, timely and balanced recovery from the crisis will be critical not only for preserving European solidarity, but also for ensuring that the world quickly returns to the trajectory of sustainable development.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #60: Commodity exporters face mounting economic challenges as pandemic spreads
Unlike most developed economies, commodity exporters—saddled with large budget deficits and high levels of government debt—will find it extremely difficult to roll out large fiscal stimulus.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #57: Navigating Financial Risks Through Macroprudential Policies: Recent Experiences of Emerging Economies
A decade has passed since the initial onset of the global financial crisis. Following a protracted period of sub-par growth, the global economy has strengthened as the effects of cyclical headwinds and crisis-related legacies dissipate.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #50: International finance to support climate change resilience
In the past 20 years, weather-related disasters affected 4.2 billion people worldwide, with a large loss of life and livelihoods. The global annual average cost of climatic disasters, including floods, storms, droughts and heat waves, is estimated to have risen from $64 billion during the period 1985-1994 to $154 billion in the period 2005-2014. A more complete estimate of global costs, taking into account the loss associated with slow-onset climate events (e.g., sea-level rise and desertification), is likely to yield a larger figure.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #48: Adaptation to climate change requires transformative policies
Climate change has a differential impact on people and communities. The people at greatest risk are the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized that, in most cases, have been excluded from socioeconomic progress. Differences in wealth; unequal opportunities to access quality health services, education and employment; and inequality with respect to voice and political representation are the underpinnings of continued exposure and vulnerability of large population groups to climate hazards. Public policies have an important role to play in strengthening the capacity of people to adapt, particularly in those areas where the private sector is unlikely to invest.