IBA holds webinar for students on UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report 2019

April 17, 2020: A webinar was held for International Trade class of Assistant Professor of Economics & Research Fellow at CBER, IBA, Dr. Aadil Nakhoda, on the UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report 2019 on financing a global green new deal.

UNCTAD Senior Economist Igor Paunovic led the discussion on the state of the global economy discussing COVID-19 and a global economic slowdown being on the horizon. With global commodity prices on a downward trend in the last few years, developing economies were already facing economic pressure due to the US-China trade war, and an overall diminished demand. That paired with the COVID-19 situation has led to a global economic recession comparable to the great depression of the 1920s.

With such insufficient investments, countries dependent on debt and limited policy space in face of another economic crisis, due to a slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, had already made the global economy extremely fragile and in need of a significant reform.

The discussion then shifted towards the need for a Global Green New Deal (GGND) and the overall Sustainable Development goals, in order to reform the current economic system and move forward with a long-term goal of sustainable development. The discussion also highlighted resource mobilization for the GGND.

UNCTAD predicts that implementing the GGND would exhibit a significant increase in wage share, investment, net transfers and government spending, to show in a growth of around 170 million jobs globally and a CO2 emission cut of around 32 billion tons by 2030.

In the end of the webinar, the students actively asked questions regarding the topic, expected short and long-term changes in the global economic outlook and the implications of the pandemic and GGND for Pakistan and other developing nations.