Adaptation governance: Challenges in international trade and finance

Abstract

In recent Trade and Development Reports, UNCTAD has outlined the case for a Global Green New Deal to tackle the multiple challenges facing the international community. At its heart is the call for a massive and coordinated investment and jobs push for a cleaner and more efficient global energy system. But as with its erstwhile namesake, this recovery strategy for the planet is linked to regulatory and redistributional measures which should also assume a global dimension. These include measures (and related institutional reforms) aimed at curbing the undue power and predatory practices of large financial and non-financial corporations, reducing the wealth and income inequalities that have created fragmented societies and distorted economies, and ensuring that resilience to unforeseen shocks is guaranteed for the many, not just the privileged few.