The intersection of escalating debt burdens and intensifying climate change impacts creates significant challenges, particularly for developing countries of the Global South which have to service existing debt obligations while addressing urgent climate-related issues, which constrains fiscal space and impedes resilience-building efforts. Finding solutions to these challenges will be pivotal to achieving  sustainable development, effectively adapting to climate change, and addressing climate-induced loss and damage (L&D).

Within this context, SLYCAN Trust actively engages with key stakeholders to scale up research and build capacities surrounding debt sustainability and climate policy processes. This includes the hosting of a fully hybrid workshop on February 7th, 2024, in London. The event was attended by a diverse array of participants from more than twenty countries, including UNFCCC negotiators and government representatives, academia and think tanks, the private sector, civil society organisations, lawyers, and philanthropic organisations.

This discussion brief summarizes the main areas of discussion as well as key inputs and takeaways from this event and will feed into the larger knowledge outputs of SLYCAN Trust's work programme on climate change, sovereign debt, and the global financial system.