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FTI July 2025 Cover

Frontier Technology Issues: Recycling of energy transition critical minerals from waste and scrap: prospects for developing countries

Introduction: The importance of access to critical minerals for the energy transition  Achieving a sustainable energy transition that limits greenhouse gas emissions while promoting inclusive economic growth and development is crucial for addressing climate change yet remains a significant challenge. Green technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells lie at the heart of this transition. These technologies, however, rely on specific metals and minerals—aluminium, cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and others—several of which remain hard to access for many countries, and are in limited supply. Demand for each mineral varies by each clean…
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2025 CDP Report, ECOSOC and GA Resolutions

Report of the Committee for Development Policy (E/2025/33, Supplement No. 13)
عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español CDP excerpts on the report by theme New development contexts and pathways Convergence in human and social development Reviewing the framework for graduation from the least developed country category Enhanced monitoring of countries that are graduating or have graduated from the list of least developed countries ECOSOC resolution (E/RES/2025/L.9) on the Report of the Committee for Development Policy
عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español

2025 Monitoring Reports

Bangladesh Bangladesh Annual Country Report 2024 Bhutan Annual Report on Bhutan’s Smooth Transition Strategy (13th Five Year Plan) for Sustainable Graduation Cambodia Lao People's Democratic Republic Nepal Saõ Tomé and Príncipe Evaluation Report of the Graduation Process of São Tomé and Príncipe from the List of LDCs Senegal Rapport sur la Preparation de la Strategie de Sortie du Senegal de la Categorie des PMA Solomon Islands
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CDP Plenary 2025

The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) held its 27th Plenary meeting from 24 to 28 February at UN Headquarters in New York. H.E. Mr. Robert Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations and President of ECOSOC, and Mr. Li Jinhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, addressed the CDP members during the opening session. The Committee addressed several issues related to “new development contexts and pathways”, focusing on financing for development, convergence in human and social development and trade as engine for sustainable development. The CDP also discussed challenges faced by least developed countries (LDCs) in the current external environment,…
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Report of the CDP (E/2025/33, Supplement No. 13) Opening Statement of H.E. Mr. Robert Rae Opening Statement of Mr. Li Jinhua
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2024 Impact Assessments

Potential impacts of LDC graduation: Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia Impacts of LDC Graduation on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in Cambodia, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia Updated impact assessment for Solomon Islands Note on updated impact assessment for Tuvalu

Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category: Inclusion, Graduation and Special Support Measures – Fifth Edition

The Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category contains comprehensive and authoritative information on criteria defining the category, graduation procedures, and international support measures for LDCs. This revised edition reflects recent developments in the LDC category, including refinements to the LDC criteria and the progress of several countries towards graduation from the category. Moreover, it contains updated information on international support measures, including on “smooth transition” provisions for countries graduating from the LDC category The Handbook, prepared by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), is…
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2024 CDP Report, ECOSOC and GA Resolutions

Report of the Committee for Development Policy (E/2024/33, Supplement No. 13)
عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español CDP excerpts on the report by theme Innovation ecosystems for development, structural change and equity 2024 triennial review of the list of least developed countries Enhanced monitoring of countries that are graduating or have graduated from the list of least developed countries Graduation – the global context ECOSOC resolution (E/RES/2024/7) on the Report of the Committee for Development Policy
عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español GA resolution (A/RES/79/230) on the Graduation of Cambodia and Senegal from the least developed country category
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2024 Monitoring Reports

Angola Letter from the Chair of the CDP to Angola, 10 July 2023 Bangladesh Bangladesh Annual Country Report 2023 Bhutan Annual Report on the Preparation of Bhutan’s Smooth Transition Strategy (13th Plan) for Graduation from the Least Developed Countries Category Equatorial Guinea Lao People's Democratic Republic The Annual Report to the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) on the Preparation of the Smooth Transition Strategy Nepal Report on the Preparation of the LDC Graduation Transition Strategy of Nepal Saõ Tomé and Príncipe Progress Report on the Process of São Tomé and Príncipe's Graduation from the List of LDCs Solomon Islands Vanuatu
CDP Plenary 2024

CDP Plenary 2024

Agenda Report of the Committee for Development Policy (E/2024/33, Supplement No. 13)
عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) held its 26th Plenary meeting from 4 to 8 March at UN Headquarters in New York. H.E. Mr. Robert Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations and Vice-President of ECOSOC, and Mr. Li Jinhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, addressed the CDP members during the opening session. The Committee addressed several issues related to the least developed countries (LDC) category, as well as the issue of innovation ecosystems for development, structural transformation and equity, as…
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Measuring export concentration for identifying least developed countries, by Matthias Bruckner (CDP Background Paper No. 59)

Export concentration has long been recognized as a key indicator of the development progress of least developed countries (LDCs). This paper presents the refined export concentration index recently included in the criteria used for identifying LDCs. The refined index is a Theil index that covers both concentration in the basket of exported products and concentration in the set of export markets, thereby capturing two dimensions of vulnerability due to undiversified export structures. The paper shows that relative to other developing countries, LDCs are less diversified both in terms of export products and export markets, contributing to their heightened vulnerability. Download