Devex Podcasts

For this special episode of our weekly podcast series, Devex EVP and Executive Editor Kate Warren sits down with leaders from Bayer and Mars who discuss the challenges and opportunities for the private sector in addressing climate change.

Leaders push for climate adaptation funding in the face of escalating risks by Devex

Agriculture is both a driver of climate change, with around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from direct on farm emissions, and a potential game changer in mitigating it, if carried out sustainably. Yet currently agriculture receives only 4.3% of total mitigation and adaptation finance, making it an underutilized part of the solution to climate change.

“Maybe an important conversation to have in Baku is to say, of the finances that we have available, are we all focussing on the sectors where we can see true, tangible, and implementable solutions,” said CropLife International’s Vice President for public affairs and communications Laurie Goodwin, the global association that advocates on behalf of plant science innovation.

In a conversation with Devex Executive Vice President and Executive Editor Kate Warren, Goodwin and CropLife International’s President and CEO Emily Rees discussed advancements in plant science and the role of innovation, such as the use of digital tools — otherwise known as precision agriculture — in building resilience in global food systems. “It’s a real digital revolution, a farming revolution, that we’re seeing,” said Rees. “I think it’s really important to keep in mind what the benefits are of this from a biodiversity perspective, from a conservation perspective, from a land degradation perspective.”

Listen to their conversation to hear how innovative technologies are helping improve crop resilience and yields, and what more is needed to ensure these solutions reach smallholder farmers.

While the African continent has seen significant economic growth in recent years, it continues to grapple with critical infrastructure challenges that hamper business expansion, service delivery, trade, investment, as well as sustainable development. 

In the latest episode of This Week in Global Development, Devex Executive Vice President Kate Warren speaks with Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa50, during the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. Since its launch seven years ago, Africa50 has emerged as a key player in bridging the infrastructure gap across the continent, focusing on project development to create a pipeline of bankable projects.

Listen to the podcast episode for the full interview, where Warren and Ebobissé discuss the future of infrastructure in Africa, the importance of climate being built into infrastructure projects, and innovative strategies being employed to create lasting impact across the continent.

As the COP 29 U.N. climate conference kicks off in Baku, Azerbaijan, we look ahead to the potential implications of the discussions on the global development sector.

Labeled as the “finance COP,” one of the expected outcomes of the summit is a new financial goal for high-income countries to deliver to lower-income countries to address the challenges induced by climate change.

With Trump’s recent reelection and implications for development, as well as Europe’s ongoing cuts to development funding, serious questions remain over whether ambitious financial and political commitments will be made, and if the discussions will translate into meaningful action.

What are we expecting from COP29? Which are the conversations that we will be following?Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Devex reporters Jesse Chase-Lubitz and Ayenat Mersie for this special episode of our weekly podcast series ahead of COP 29.

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This week, former President Donald Trump was elected for a second term at the White House. His reelection marks a radical shift in U.S. foreign policy priorities for a sweeping range of issues, not least abortion, climate, global health, and LGBTQI rights.

The global development community is closely watching how things are unfolding in Washington, D.C. Major reforms to the international financial system are expected, as well as cuts in funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations.

How will Trump approach foreign policy? Will China capitalize on the U.S.’s withdrawal from the international scene? What does the result mean for international climate finance?

To dig into these questions and discuss what the outcome of the U.S. elections means for global development, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with reporters Colum Lynch and Adva Saldinger for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

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This week we discuss the key takeaways from Devex World 2024, our flagship event that took place in Washington, D.C., alongside the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings. From discussions with philanthropist Howard Buffett, who called for increased aid to Ukraine, to a conversation with former executive director of the World Food Programme David Beasley, who believes the U.S. can once again lead on foreign aid, the event brought together key figures in global development.

We also sat down with Republicans and Democrats to dig into what the U.S. election means for global development and discuss the direction that a Kamala Harris presidency or a Donald Trump presidency would take U.S. foreign policy.

For the latest edition of our weekly podcast series, Devex Managing Editor Anna Gawel sits down with Business Editor David Ainsworth and Global Development Reporter Elissa Miolene to look back at the highlights from Devex World 2024.

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With the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings wrapped up, all eyes are now turning to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, to be held next month in Baku, Azerbaijan.

So how do multilateral development banks stack up? Are their policies and programs enough to address climate shocks? Can and should they take on more risk? And is the money that MDBs have promised actually getting to where it needs to go?

To explore these questions and more, Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger speaks to Pepukaye Bardouille, director of the Bridgetown Initiative and special adviser on climate change to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley; and Warren Evans, who has a long history of working on climate issues at multilateral development banks.

On Thursday, Devex hosted its biannual Devex World summit in Washington, D.C. Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar was on hand to interview global development heavy hitters on stage — and also sat down with Climate Investment Funds CEO Tariye Gbadegesin. CIF, founded in 2008, is a $12 billion multilateral climate finance fund.

While all brains were focused on the World Bank annual meetings, they looked ahead to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“One of the key objectives of the Baku COP is to deliver a [new collective quantified goal, or NCQG], which are basically national quantified goals for how we're going to deliver on climate finance,” Gbadegesin said. “The reality is that there are going to be challenges with raising these large sums of money because budgets are stretched for multiple reasons. Some of it is political, some of it is economic, some of it is security challenges.” The implications for climate funding, she said, are that every dollar has to go further — which is already the mission of CIF’s concessional finance model.

Another key factor, she said, will be bringing in the private sector.

“What we need to do is figure out how to create that capital stack of funding where we are able to get 10-15% from the private sector to come alongside [multilateral development bank] funding, underpinned by concessional finance,” she said. “It's not hard to do on paper or in a financial model, but it's really hard.” Still, it’s possible, she explained — in past years, CIF was brought in to help finance solar and wind projects, she said, but now that’s no longer necessary for those technologies, and she believes that can happen for other new technologies.

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The World Bank Group released its new Gender Strategy earlier this year with three key aims: ending gender-based violence, expanding economic opportunities, and engaging more women as leaders.

But how will the bank achieve these lofty aims? Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with the bank’s Global Director for Gender Hana Brixi for our latest podcast to learn about how this new plan will be implemented and what exactly is changing.

“The World Bank Group is at a very historic moment at the time. It is the first time ever to have a strategy for the World Bank Group to engage with such a strong ambition, and also a commitment to engage differently for better gender equality and really to accelerate progress,” Brixi tells Adva. The “full engagement of women” is key to ending poverty, and without ending gender-based violence that will be impossible, she adds.

It’s less about new programs or specific new funding but integrating stronger emphasis on gender throughout everything the World Bank does. It will also mean making the case to countries about why they should address gender issues as a matter of economic policy.

Not everyone is convinced about all aspects of the strategy. Mary Borrowman, a policy fellow in the Gender Equality and Inclusion program at the Center for Global Development, shares her concerns about data, accountability, funding and a lack of country-level targets.

“I think that there are some really positive things. I think there are some kind of missed opportunities, and I think there are some areas where I'm not sure if the bank's playing, perhaps, to its comparative advantage in areas of the most impact,” she says.

Another missed opportunity in her eyes? The lack of specific gender-based targets in the policy package for the upcoming International Development Association replenishment, IDA21.

“I think they’re really rolling the dice and it’s a big risk, in terms of not having financing for gender, not having accountability” she says.