Carbon pricing is a vital policy tool to address the unfolding climate crisis
Amid rising global temperatures, drought forces Australia to import wheat for the first time in a decade
Debt-for-climate swaps are an innovative?development financing instrument
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Global issues: Climate risks and the case for internalizing the cost of CO2 emission
The rationale for carbon pricing: changing decision-making amid an unfolding climate crisis
Evidence such as historic temperature data indicates a worrying trend. In numerous countries and geographic areas, the hottest years over the last century have occurred in the last decade. At the global level, the past four years were the…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: August 2019 Briefing, No. 129
ODA flows must increase to support SDG-related investment
Regional integration in Africa and Asia is crucial for sustainable development
China?s direct investment in Latin America slows
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Global issues
ODA flows should increase significantly to achieve the 2030 Agenda
To achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international community must embark on a path of collective efforts, including providing support to many developing countries to increase investment in numerous fields. Both upgrading and diversifying productive capacities and advancing communication, energy and transportation infrastructure remain priorities. Several countries, especially among…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: July 2019 Briefing, No. 128
Trade tensions and policy uncertainty are damaging global growth prospects
Several countries continue to experience setbacks in their fight against poverty
Carbon pricing a key element in combating climate change
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Global issues
Trade tensions and policy uncertainty continue to damage global growth prospects
The World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) as of mid-2019, launched on 21 May, stresses that high trade tensions and policy uncertainty continue to damage prospects for economic growth. The report also downgraded growth forecasts for many countries. When the WESP 2019 was launched last January, a softening in global economic activity was already evident. In…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: June 2019 Briefing, No. 127
Many developed and developing economies take an easier monetary policy stance
VAT increase in the Russian Federation temporarily adds to inflation
Argentina imposes price controls to curb inflation
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Global issues
Aligning monetary policy with the SDGs
A slowdown in global economic activity, coupled with largely benign inflationary pressures, has triggered a shift towards easier monetary policy stances across many developed and developing economies (figure 1). In March, the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) lowered its expectations from two interest rate hikes to none in 2019, and announced that it will begin to slow the pace of its balance sheet normalization. In…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: May 2019 Briefing, No. 126
Addressing youth employment remains a policy challenge, especially in Africa
In North America, central banks pause interest rate rises despite tight labour markets
Shortage of young workers prompts Japan to relax immigration policies
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Global issues
Youth employment remains a policy challenge
In 2018, the global labour force comprised 3.5 billion people?3.3 billion of whom were employed. Participation in the global labour force has been steadily declining since the 1990s. This partly reflects higher life expectancy and greater retirement opportunities. Among young people (aged 15?24), the decline in labour force participation has been even more pronounced, largely…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: April 2019 Briefing, No. 125
Growing demand for leveraged loans may pose a new global financial risk
Surge in African sovereign external bond issuance raises concern
China?s recent policy easing may further increase the domestic debt level
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Global issues
The recent upsurge in leveraged loans?financial risks and productivity implications
As discussed in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2019, high indebtedness has become a critical feature of the global economy. In the last decade, debt levels have risen visibly across countries and sectors, fuelled by ultra-loose monetary policies in major economies. Public and private debt have reached historical highs in many countries. According to…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: March 2019 Briefing, No. 124
WESP 2019 warns of rising climate risks to the world economy
Parts of Africa and Latin America still experiencing very weak per capita income growth
East and South Asia remain world?s most dynamic regions, but risks have increased
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Global issues
Global economic growth remains heavily carbon-intensive
The baseline outlook presented in the latest World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 report projects steady economic growth in 2019?2020 at the global level, although risks to that outlook have continued to build. The report also notes that economic activity remains excessively dependent on carbon-intensive fossil fuels. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP)…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: February 2019 Briefing, No. 123
WESP 2019 highlights that economic progress remains highly uneven across the world
Downside risks to the global growth outlook have increased
Waning support for multilateralism may limit the capacity for collaborative policies in the event of a sharp global economic downturn
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WESP 2019: Solid global growth obscures significant development challenges
The steady pace of expansion in the global economy masks an increase in downside risks that could potentially exacerbate development challenges in many parts of the world, cautioned the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 report, launched today in New York.
The world economy is estimated to have grown by 3.…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: January 2019 Briefing, No. 122
CO2 emissions expected to reach an historical high in 2018
The low cost of coal relative to alternative energy sources is slowing progress towards energy transition in many regions
Phasing out coal use requires a reliable and stable alternative energy supply, plus support to the economic and employment transition in regions dependent on coal production
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Global issues
The global energy mix and its role in CO2 emissions mitigation
After three years of remaining flat, global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased by 1.5 per cent in 2017 and are estimated to have risen further in 2018. This puts even greater policy importance on the 24th Conference of…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: December 2018 Briefing, No. 121
Global growth may have reached a peak
Firms in the United States and Japan are facing capacity constraints
Manufacturing activity slows in developed and developing economies
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Global issues
Leading indicators suggest global growth may have peaked
In 2016, the growth rate of world gross product dropped to its lowest level since the global financial crisis, with 49 countries registering a decline in the level of per capita income. Subsequently, the world economy experienced a broad-based upturn and global growth reached 3.1 per cent in 2017?the fastest pace since 2011. The improvement was largely driven by accelerating growth in developed economies, a steady performance…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: November 2018 Briefing, No. 120
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