The digital economy is a major opportunity for #LDCs—but only if services boost productivity, connect with manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and trade. With the right skills, infrastructure and policies, services can drive jobs, exports and resilience. https://ow.ly/vcyW50Ye5lf
February 11, 2026 at 9:48 PM
The digital economy is a major opportunity for #LDCs—but only if services boost productivity, connect with manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and trade. With the right skills, infrastructure and policies, services can drive jobs, exports and resilience. https://ow.ly/vcyW50Ye5lf
Least developed countries face a huge challenge: Accelerating growth to fight poverty.
But with just 1% per capita growth in 2024, they’re falling further behind other developing economies.
Can the services sector help?
UNCTAD’s #LDCs Report explores: https://ow.ly/FBO050YbGCO
But with just 1% per capita growth in 2024, they’re falling further behind other developing economies.
Can the services sector help?
UNCTAD’s #LDCs Report explores: https://ow.ly/FBO050YbGCO
February 11, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Least developed countries face a huge challenge: Accelerating growth to fight poverty.
But with just 1% per capita growth in 2024, they’re falling further behind other developing economies.
Can the services sector help?
UNCTAD’s #LDCs Report explores: https://ow.ly/FBO050YbGCO
But with just 1% per capita growth in 2024, they’re falling further behind other developing economies.
Can the services sector help?
UNCTAD’s #LDCs Report explores: https://ow.ly/FBO050YbGCO
Services drive growth & jobs in least developed countries, but most remain low productivity & informal, UNCTAD’s #LDCs Report 2025 shows.
Without targeted policies, growth risks reinforcing inequalities.
Skills, digital tools & industry links are key to better jobs: https://ow.ly/IWvr50YbE1w
Without targeted policies, growth risks reinforcing inequalities.
Skills, digital tools & industry links are key to better jobs: https://ow.ly/IWvr50YbE1w
February 11, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Services drive growth & jobs in least developed countries, but most remain low productivity & informal, UNCTAD’s #LDCs Report 2025 shows.
Without targeted policies, growth risks reinforcing inequalities.
Skills, digital tools & industry links are key to better jobs: https://ow.ly/IWvr50YbE1w
Without targeted policies, growth risks reinforcing inequalities.
Skills, digital tools & industry links are key to better jobs: https://ow.ly/IWvr50YbE1w
Services can boost industrialization, trade & competitiveness – but only with strong national strategies and a supportive global environment.
Without both, opportunity could turn into exclusion, says UNCTAD chief Rebeca Grynspan at the launch of the latest #LDCs Report. https://ow.ly/kOps50Yca3v
Without both, opportunity could turn into exclusion, says UNCTAD chief Rebeca Grynspan at the launch of the latest #LDCs Report. https://ow.ly/kOps50Yca3v
February 10, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Services can boost industrialization, trade & competitiveness – but only with strong national strategies and a supportive global environment.
Without both, opportunity could turn into exclusion, says UNCTAD chief Rebeca Grynspan at the launch of the latest #LDCs Report. https://ow.ly/kOps50Yca3v
Without both, opportunity could turn into exclusion, says UNCTAD chief Rebeca Grynspan at the launch of the latest #LDCs Report. https://ow.ly/kOps50Yca3v
Services are growing in 44 least developed countries (#LDCs).
But poor links to factories, exports & tech keep productivity low and inequality rising.
UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2025 maps a path forward: https://ow.ly/ln3p50YbFLw
But poor links to factories, exports & tech keep productivity low and inequality rising.
UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2025 maps a path forward: https://ow.ly/ln3p50YbFLw
February 10, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Services are growing in 44 least developed countries (#LDCs).
But poor links to factories, exports & tech keep productivity low and inequality rising.
UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2025 maps a path forward: https://ow.ly/ln3p50YbFLw
But poor links to factories, exports & tech keep productivity low and inequality rising.
UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2025 maps a path forward: https://ow.ly/ln3p50YbFLw
1966.
The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and foremost in LDCs.
The challenges are immense. But so is the opportunity.
https://pulse.ly/fgzaxyvxin
The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and foremost in LDCs.
The challenges are immense. But so is the opportunity.
https://pulse.ly/fgzaxyvxin
UNCDF: Absorbing Risk, Creating Possibility
The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and...
pulse.ly
February 10, 2026 at 12:20 AM
1966.
The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and foremost in LDCs.
The challenges are immense. But so is the opportunity.
https://pulse.ly/fgzaxyvxin
The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and foremost in LDCs.
The challenges are immense. But so is the opportunity.
https://pulse.ly/fgzaxyvxin
Actually, the larger grid isn't the problem. The issue is small scale. Most Ontario Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) would struggle to supply customers if every vehicle was electric and houses had heat pumps. Lots lead time and investment would be required. Feasible, but needs to be planned for.
February 5, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Actually, the larger grid isn't the problem. The issue is small scale. Most Ontario Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) would struggle to supply customers if every vehicle was electric and houses had heat pumps. Lots lead time and investment would be required. Feasible, but needs to be planned for.
🌾 Where does government support for #Agriculture really go?
In a new @economies.iisd.org article, @fcalvo.bsky.social explores why reforming agricultural support at the @wto.org is crucial for more equitable & sustainable outcomes.
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bvVsNp
In a new @economies.iisd.org article, @fcalvo.bsky.social explores why reforming agricultural support at the @wto.org is crucial for more equitable & sustainable outcomes.
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bvVsNp
February 3, 2026 at 9:30 AM
🌾 Where does government support for #Agriculture really go?
In a new @economies.iisd.org article, @fcalvo.bsky.social explores why reforming agricultural support at the @wto.org is crucial for more equitable & sustainable outcomes.
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bvVsNp
In a new @economies.iisd.org article, @fcalvo.bsky.social explores why reforming agricultural support at the @wto.org is crucial for more equitable & sustainable outcomes.
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bvVsNp
This new era of large deals between major and middle powers - and the seizing up of the WTO - risks sidelining LDCs and smaller, more vulnerable countries. Carney's speech at Davos was interesting but it completely neglected marginalised countries - indeed it could actively worsen their position.
January 29, 2026 at 7:33 AM
This new era of large deals between major and middle powers - and the seizing up of the WTO - risks sidelining LDCs and smaller, more vulnerable countries. Carney's speech at Davos was interesting but it completely neglected marginalised countries - indeed it could actively worsen their position.
Why does private capital keep missing LDCs? 📊
A paper by ISF Advisors, supported by UNCDF, shows it’s not a lack of capital, but a structural mismatch in how finance is deployed.
White spaces persist in early-stage & last-mile markets.
🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/sm7f9hrfqv
A paper by ISF Advisors, supported by UNCDF, shows it’s not a lack of capital, but a structural mismatch in how finance is deployed.
White spaces persist in early-stage & last-mile markets.
🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/sm7f9hrfqv
The case of missing middles: Gaps in the development finance landscape, and UNCDF’s positioning in it
This paper identifies these persistent “white spaces” in the development finance ecosystem and argues that bridging them requires a distinct...
pulse.ly
January 17, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Why does private capital keep missing LDCs? 📊
A paper by ISF Advisors, supported by UNCDF, shows it’s not a lack of capital, but a structural mismatch in how finance is deployed.
White spaces persist in early-stage & last-mile markets.
🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/sm7f9hrfqv
A paper by ISF Advisors, supported by UNCDF, shows it’s not a lack of capital, but a structural mismatch in how finance is deployed.
White spaces persist in early-stage & last-mile markets.
🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/sm7f9hrfqv
At #COP30, the pledge to triple adaptation finance by 2035 made headlines—but will the money reach communities on the frontlines?
With #LIFEAR, LDCs are advancing the 70:30 principle:
➡️ 70% of climate finance to the local level
➡️ 30% for coordination & learning
📖 www.life-ar.org/en/news-blog...
With #LIFEAR, LDCs are advancing the 70:30 principle:
➡️ 70% of climate finance to the local level
➡️ 30% for coordination & learning
📖 www.life-ar.org/en/news-blog...
Tripling adaptation finance is only half of the story
At COP30, climate adaptation took centre stage, with the agreement to triple adaptation finance by 2035. But behind the numbers, the real question remains: will this finance reach the communities…
www.life-ar.org
January 7, 2026 at 12:43 PM
At #COP30, the pledge to triple adaptation finance by 2035 made headlines—but will the money reach communities on the frontlines?
With #LIFEAR, LDCs are advancing the 70:30 principle:
➡️ 70% of climate finance to the local level
➡️ 30% for coordination & learning
📖 www.life-ar.org/en/news-blog...
With #LIFEAR, LDCs are advancing the 70:30 principle:
➡️ 70% of climate finance to the local level
➡️ 30% for coordination & learning
📖 www.life-ar.org/en/news-blog...
57s on everything but the kick guy vs. LDCs on everything but the snare guy. #mynewbuddycopmovie
December 20, 2025 at 10:49 AM
57s on everything but the kick guy vs. LDCs on everything but the snare guy. #mynewbuddycopmovie
New pledges and projects approvals @theGEF LDCF/SCCF council meeting. Projects - Eritrea, Haiti, Kiribati, Senegal & Marshall Islands. Pledges: Germany €10m, Belgium €5.9m, Sweden 130m SEK, Ireland €3m (LDCF) & €2m (SCCF)
Progress, but the funding gap remains so huge!
#LDCS #Adaptation #GEF
Progress, but the funding gap remains so huge!
#LDCS #Adaptation #GEF
December 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
New pledges and projects approvals @theGEF LDCF/SCCF council meeting. Projects - Eritrea, Haiti, Kiribati, Senegal & Marshall Islands. Pledges: Germany €10m, Belgium €5.9m, Sweden 130m SEK, Ireland €3m (LDCF) & €2m (SCCF)
Progress, but the funding gap remains so huge!
#LDCS #Adaptation #GEF
Progress, but the funding gap remains so huge!
#LDCS #Adaptation #GEF
New Global Mutirão text retains a "call for efforts" to triple adaptation finance, but pushes the deadline for this to 2035 - five years later than the previous draft and what the LDCs and other developing parties have called for
Full text: unfccc.int/sites/defaul...
Full text: unfccc.int/sites/defaul...
November 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
New Global Mutirão text retains a "call for efforts" to triple adaptation finance, but pushes the deadline for this to 2035 - five years later than the previous draft and what the LDCs and other developing parties have called for
Full text: unfccc.int/sites/defaul...
Full text: unfccc.int/sites/defaul...
Our teams are safe. No major incidents recorded. We continue engaging the Presidency to ensure COP30 outcome delivers strong adaptation elements for LDCs.
It still doesn't look good, but we remain hopeful and united. 1.6 billion people are waiting.
#COP30 #LDCs #Adaptation
It still doesn't look good, but we remain hopeful and united. 1.6 billion people are waiting.
#COP30 #LDCs #Adaptation
November 21, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Our teams are safe. No major incidents recorded. We continue engaging the Presidency to ensure COP30 outcome delivers strong adaptation elements for LDCs.
It still doesn't look good, but we remain hopeful and united. 1.6 billion people are waiting.
#COP30 #LDCs #Adaptation
It still doesn't look good, but we remain hopeful and united. 1.6 billion people are waiting.
#COP30 #LDCs #Adaptation
Civil society is calling for adaptation finance at #COP30
The goal to double adaption finance - agreed in Glasgow in 2021 - comes to an end this year, and isn’t going to be met.
LDCs are calling for a goal to triple adaptation finance, but it remains a contentious issue in negotiations
The goal to double adaption finance - agreed in Glasgow in 2021 - comes to an end this year, and isn’t going to be met.
LDCs are calling for a goal to triple adaptation finance, but it remains a contentious issue in negotiations
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Civil society is calling for adaptation finance at #COP30
The goal to double adaption finance - agreed in Glasgow in 2021 - comes to an end this year, and isn’t going to be met.
LDCs are calling for a goal to triple adaptation finance, but it remains a contentious issue in negotiations
The goal to double adaption finance - agreed in Glasgow in 2021 - comes to an end this year, and isn’t going to be met.
LDCs are calling for a goal to triple adaptation finance, but it remains a contentious issue in negotiations
Worth noting his past global influence he's had also. I hope he also regrets that as well.
From an admittedly old article I wrote quite some time ago: www.globalissues.org/article/238/...
From an admittedly old article I wrote quite some time ago: www.globalissues.org/article/238/...
![In 1991, then Chief Economist for the World Bank Larry Summers, (and US Treasury Secretary, in the Clinton Administration, until George Bush and the Republican party came into power), had been a strong backer of IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Policies, which have proved to be so disastrous to the developing world. He wrote in an internal memo (leaked to the Economist in 1992) that is very revealing:
Quote:
Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging more migration of dirty industries to the LDCs [less developed countries]?… The economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable, and we should face up to that… Under-populated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted; their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low compared to Los Angeles or Mexico City… The concern over an agent that causes a one in a million change in the odds of prostate cancer is obviously going to be much higher in a country where people survive to get prostate cancer than in a country where under-five mortality is 200 per thousand.
-- citation: Lawrence Summers, Let them eat pollution, The Economist, February 8, 1992. Quoted from Vandana Shiva, Stolen Harvest, (South End Press, 2000) p.65; See also Richard Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism (Allyn and Bacon, 1999), pp. 233-236 for a detailed look at this.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:joi4ignqhofcm2lmxpbhglen/bafkreih2uml2gp4l4h6ffcme3u3k26xol3zr6xq4fz4huensbkw6mio3e4@jpeg)
![A World Bank spoof site, the Whirld Bank, posted the leaked memo. It also had a postscript which contained a reaction from the then Brazilian minister for the environment. The article noted:
Quote:
After the memo became public in February 1992, Brazil’s then-Secretary of the Environment Jose Lutzenburger wrote back to Summers: "Your reasoning is perfectly logical but totally insane… Your thoughts [provide] a concrete example of the unbelievable alienation, reductionist thinking, social ruthlessness and the arrogant ignorance of many conventional "economists" concerning the nature of the world we live in… If the World Bank keeps you as vice president it will lose all credibility. To me it would confirm what I often said… the best thing that could happen would be for the Bank to disappear." Sadly, Mr. Lutzenburger was fired shortly after writing this letter.
Mr. Summers, on the other hand, was appointed the U.S. Treasury Secretary on July 2nd, 1999, and served through the remainder of the Clinton Admistration. Afterwards, he was named president of Harvard University.
-- citation: The Bank Memo, The Whirled Bank Group (A Spoof of the World Bank web site).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:joi4ignqhofcm2lmxpbhglen/bafkreifz5bbalporzsrsbkyzaaggbtwq2vmhu7hzhaglrop7mvyczvhc7i@jpeg)
November 17, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Worth noting his past global influence he's had also. I hope he also regrets that as well.
From an admittedly old article I wrote quite some time ago: www.globalissues.org/article/238/...
From an admittedly old article I wrote quite some time ago: www.globalissues.org/article/238/...
LDCs 6th Coord meeting with FRLD team:
- $800M pledged, $400M available
- Access starts in 2026
- LDCs 4 grant-based access
- 50% / fund reserved 4 LDCs & SIDs
- Interventions: $5-20M, targeting
- $1B, diversifying sources
"We're not here to do easy things, but to make it work," said FRLD ED
- $800M pledged, $400M available
- Access starts in 2026
- LDCs 4 grant-based access
- 50% / fund reserved 4 LDCs & SIDs
- Interventions: $5-20M, targeting
- $1B, diversifying sources
"We're not here to do easy things, but to make it work," said FRLD ED
November 15, 2025 at 4:55 PM
LDCs 6th Coord meeting with FRLD team:
- $800M pledged, $400M available
- Access starts in 2026
- LDCs 4 grant-based access
- 50% / fund reserved 4 LDCs & SIDs
- Interventions: $5-20M, targeting
- $1B, diversifying sources
"We're not here to do easy things, but to make it work," said FRLD ED
- $800M pledged, $400M available
- Access starts in 2026
- LDCs 4 grant-based access
- 50% / fund reserved 4 LDCs & SIDs
- Interventions: $5-20M, targeting
- $1B, diversifying sources
"We're not here to do easy things, but to make it work," said FRLD ED
Small Island States (🇰🇳) and LDCs (🇷🇼🇧🇩) highlighted how asymmetries in tax expertise exclude them from shaping global norms. For them, capacity is not just a means of compliance, but of participation.
November 14, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Small Island States (🇰🇳) and LDCs (🇷🇼🇧🇩) highlighted how asymmetries in tax expertise exclude them from shaping global norms. For them, capacity is not just a means of compliance, but of participation.
Day 2 at #COP30 and climate obstruction is on full display. Some countries are challenging science itself, pushing “alternative facts” to weaken ambition.
But AOSIS, LDCs and the Pacific held firm: facts are not politics — data is survival. We won’t let delay win.
#PICANatCOP30
But AOSIS, LDCs and the Pacific held firm: facts are not politics — data is survival. We won’t let delay win.
#PICANatCOP30
November 13, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Day 2 at #COP30 and climate obstruction is on full display. Some countries are challenging science itself, pushing “alternative facts” to weaken ambition.
But AOSIS, LDCs and the Pacific held firm: facts are not politics — data is survival. We won’t let delay win.
#PICANatCOP30
But AOSIS, LDCs and the Pacific held firm: facts are not politics — data is survival. We won’t let delay win.
#PICANatCOP30
Really striking that SIDS get so much more adaptation finance per head than LDCs (indeed, than anyone), yet overall are less vulnerable. More adaptation needs to be focused on LDCs, with different help for SIDS. But SIDS may have much stronger claim on loss and damage finance.
Ahead of #COP30, @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social compares five major climate vulnerability indices—finding wildly different results.
All agree least developed countries are most at risk, while small island states often get more attention. Time to rethink adaptation finance?
https://go.cgdev.org/4hV7v88
All agree least developed countries are most at risk, while small island states often get more attention. Time to rethink adaptation finance?
https://go.cgdev.org/4hV7v88
Who’s Really Most Vulnerable to Climate Change? SIDS, LDCs, and Adaptation Finance
As the world gears up for what’s being billed as the “adaptation COP,” attention will again focus on the needs and priorities of those “particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change...
go.cgdev.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Really striking that SIDS get so much more adaptation finance per head than LDCs (indeed, than anyone), yet overall are less vulnerable. More adaptation needs to be focused on LDCs, with different help for SIDS. But SIDS may have much stronger claim on loss and damage finance.
"A resilient future demands not just responsible extraction, but equitable value creation."
Pedro Manuel Moreno, @unctad.bsky.social Deputy SG, highlights that the question of #CriticalMinerals is not only economic but transformative & political, as opportunities for LDCs can be unlocked.
Pedro Manuel Moreno, @unctad.bsky.social Deputy SG, highlights that the question of #CriticalMinerals is not only economic but transformative & political, as opportunities for LDCs can be unlocked.
October 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
"A resilient future demands not just responsible extraction, but equitable value creation."
Pedro Manuel Moreno, @unctad.bsky.social Deputy SG, highlights that the question of #CriticalMinerals is not only economic but transformative & political, as opportunities for LDCs can be unlocked.
Pedro Manuel Moreno, @unctad.bsky.social Deputy SG, highlights that the question of #CriticalMinerals is not only economic but transformative & political, as opportunities for LDCs can be unlocked.
Good reporting, but the Starlink business model is tenuous at best. They lose $ on the hardware. They serve rural customers with no better options, who are wealthy enough to pay $100/mo, which rules out LDCs. The entire fleet of sats will de-orbit every 3-5 yrs, requiring billions to replace.
September 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Good reporting, but the Starlink business model is tenuous at best. They lose $ on the hardware. They serve rural customers with no better options, who are wealthy enough to pay $100/mo, which rules out LDCs. The entire fleet of sats will de-orbit every 3-5 yrs, requiring billions to replace.
Was about to say there’s no such thing as a fascist microphone but Hitler loved Neumann LDCs. Probably a bit problematic that most of your favourite music has someone singing into the Hitler mic. Not great for podcasts though, you can make out the topography of someone’s larynx through one of those
September 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Was about to say there’s no such thing as a fascist microphone but Hitler loved Neumann LDCs. Probably a bit problematic that most of your favourite music has someone singing into the Hitler mic. Not great for podcasts though, you can make out the topography of someone’s larynx through one of those