Capital Musings – Details, episodes & analysis

Women and Girls on the Climate Change Frontline: Navigating Climate Change, a podcast series that shines a light on the women and girls leading the fight against climate change in the least developed countries.

In this episode, we explore the intersection of Women's Rights and Climate Change. Our guests discuss the importance of climate justice, highlighting its connection to human rights and social equality. Through insightful conversations with guests, the podcast explores how climate justice intersects with issues of gender, indigenous rights, and refugee communities, emphasizing the need for inclusive decision-making processes and action to address systemic inequalities.

Our Guests in this episode:

Nupur Prakash is a Gender and Law Specialist at the International Development Law Organization. She primarily focuses on supporting IDLO's work on Justice for Women and Girl through strategic development and implementation of policy advocacy, research and programming initiatives. She has over 9 years of strong thematic expertise in issues such as combatting sexual and gender-based violence, gender-responsive legal reform, feminist climate action and land rights, amongst others. Nupur has authored various publications, most recently Human Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health and Health Promotion (2023). She also contributed to the development of several IDLO publications including: Climate Justice for Women and Girls: A Rule of Law Approach to Feminist Climate (2022); Justice for Women Amidst COVID-19 (2020); Justice for Women (2019); Nupur earned her BLS and LLB degree from Government Law College, University of Mumbai and her LLM in International and Comparative Law from the George Washington University Law School.

Xiye Bastida is a 21-year-old climate justice activist based in New York City. She is an organizer with Fridays For Future and the co-founder of Re-Earth Initiative, an international youth-led organization that focuses on highlighting the intersectionality of the climate crisis. Bastida was born in Mexico and was raised as part of the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous community. For the first climate strike in March 2019, she mobilized 600 students from her school and has taken a citywide leadership role in organizing climate strikes.

Daniela Soberón Garreta is a dedicated advocate for climate change, human rights, and renewable energy transition. Holding a Bachelor of Law from the Universidad del Pacífico, her expertise lies in critical analysis and a strong commitment to fairness. Specializing in climate change and renewable energy, she ensures alignment with international human rights standards and advocates for indigenous peoples' rights within the InterAmerican System.

Fatma Moulay is a Saharawi climate activist and human rights defender. She has worked both politically and socially to advocate for human rights, gender equality, and youth employment. She has started business ventures in her community to improve the lives of Saharawi refugees and participated in campaigns to promote peace and a sustainable future.

A show of this quality would not be possible without the incredible talent of Sarah Harris-Simpson, as well as the extraordinary and persistent support of Sorina Crisan and Eda Isik.

Thanks for listening! If you found the episode useful, please spread the word about this new show on Twitter mentioning 

Women and Girls on the Climate Change Frontline: Navigating Climate Change, a podcast series that shines a light on the women and girls leading the fight against climate change in the least developed countries.

In this episode, we look at women and climate policy: advocating for Gender-Sensitive Solutions and Inclusive Decision-Making. This episode focused on the role of women in shaping climate policy. It examines the ways in which women are advocating for more gender-sensitive climate policies and working to ensure that their voices are heard in the decision-making process.

Our Guests in this episode:

Anju Sharma, is an experienced manager, researcher, writer, and editor with over 20 years of expertise in sustainable development, particularly in Asia. She showcases an extensive background in policy research, advocacy, and information curation related to sustainability. Committed to alleviating poverty while preserving the environment, Anju specializes in areas such as climate change mitigation, natural resource management, air pollution, and civil society engagement. Her work embodies a dedicated pursuit of sustainable and equitable society.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jusharma/

Joelle Hangi is a refugee currently residing in Kenya, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Joelle has worked in different research capacities with UNHCR Africa Office, Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre, University of Geneva’s Human Rights Department, amongst other humanitarian organizations. All with a focus on improving and enabling refugee agency, autonomy, and rights. Currently, she is one of the 12 fellows of the inaugural RSC-BIEA Fellowship, which brings together early career researchers interested in matters of forced displacement. She also served as an Ashden judge for the Humanitarian Energy award. Her research interests include humanitarian aid, development aid particularly, the provision of and access to clean energy in displacement settings.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelle-hangi/

(E) Lisa (F) Schipper is Professor of Development Geography at the University of Bonn. Her work focuses on adaptation to climate change in the Global South, and looks at gender, religion and culture to understand what drives vulnerability. Lisa has lived and worked in Central and South America, East and West Africa and South and Southeast Asia. She was Co-ordinating Lead Author of Chapter 18 of the Working Group 2 contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (‘Climate Resilient Development Pathways’) that was published in February 2022. She is co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Climate and Development (Taylor and Francis) and member of the editorial board of the journals World Development Perspectives (Elsevier) and Global Transitions: Health Transitions (KeAi). She also serves as Contributing Editor of the Carbon Brief.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/e-lisa-f-schipper-5638779/

A show of this quality would not be possible without the incredible talent of Sarah Harris-Simpson, as well as the extraordinary and persistent support of Sorina Crisan and Eda Isik.

Thanks for listening! If you found the episode useful, please spread the word about this new show on Twitter mentioning 

 Welcome to Milestones, a series on the Capital Musings podcast where we continue to explore fresh ideas that make finance work for the least developed countries. If you're constantly looking to stay up to date on the latest, impactful news and events related to UNCDF's initiatives. You're in the right place!

Today's episode of Capital Musings Milestones recaps the most noteworthy moments of the past month in a concise podcast.

Be sure to hit the subscribe button to keep yourself in the loop. In today's episode, we'll cover a wide range of topics that have made the headlines, reflecting the ongoing efforts to create a better and more sustainable world.

Thanks for listening! If you found the episode useful, please spread the word about this new show on Twitter mentioning #CapitalMusings, or leave us a review on iTunes. 

Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover our podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here’s how: 

👉 Launch Apple's Podcast app.

👉 Tap the Search tab.

👉 Enter the name, Capital Musings

👉 Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.

👉 Tap the album art for the Capital Musings podcast.

👉 Tap the Reviews tab.

👉 Tap Write a Review at the bottom.

👉 Enter your iTunes password to log in.

👉 Tap the Stars to leave a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

👉 Enter title text/content to leave a review.

👉 Type in a Nickname

👉 Tap Send

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund, with the support of the UN Web TV.

The SDG of the month for February is SDG 11—to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. So, we invited Jaffer Machano, Global Programme Manager for UNCDF’s Municipal Finance Programme, back to the podcast. Jaffer was our guest for Episode 3, where he laid out the challenges that cities, towns and local governments face in terms of accessing the necessary capital to finance sustainable development projects, particularly in least developed countries. For Episode 9, Jaffer shifts his focus towards the solutions, including those solutions he is engineering on the ground.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

Those in the sustainable development space know that every year, the gap between SDG financing needs and available capital runs in the trillions--$2 trillion according to a conservative estimate. At the same time, the conversations surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) often includes the phrase "billions to trillions"--representing the point that in order to achieve the SDG agenda, finance flows for sustainable development projects have to grow exponentially…and fast. But with just 10 years to achieve this agenda, those finance flows are instead moving from the billions to the...billions. 

For Episode 8 of Capital Musings, we sat down with Joan M. Larrea, CEO of the global blended finance network Convergence, to hear her insights on the current state of SDG finance, what blended finance can do to improve the status quo, and what it cannot do.  

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the UN Web TV.

Producers: Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

Choosing between living under the authority of a leviathan and a life that would be “poor, nasty, brutish, and short” was the centerpiece of Thomas Hobbes’ social contract theory. But how much of a leviathan do we need to ensure that we can live both peacefully and freely? More to the point, how capable do we want a government to be? If every government runs the risk of either being so “capable,” that it can become despotic, or so incapable that it can be absent, then what is the right balance? And what kind of government do we need in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals at the local and national level?

Episode 7 of Capital Musings features our first external guest: Daron Acemoglu, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT, and the author of “The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty.” He offers his answers to these questions as well as his thoughts on whether the SDGs represent the global economy breaking out of the “cage of norms” and towards a new model of economic growth.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

Over 70 million people have been displaced due to conflict, persecution or war. When we think of those who have been forcibly displaced—whether they are refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced people—we often think of their lack of footing within their home or country. But we rarely think about how they contend with financial exclusion. How can displaced populations cultivate a financial role outside of their communities or countries? And what can they do to ensure that they are not resigned to a life of outside formal economies, specifically women?

UNCDF’s Pamela Eser shares insights, lessons and challenges from her experience in one of the most difficult areas of economic development. She also shares how modern solutions like digital financial tools, coupled with traditional solutions like savings groups, have been effective in advancing financial inclusion for displaced people residing in some of the most difficult areas in the world.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Carlos Macias and Fernando Zarauz

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference—or COP25—by issuing the warning that “the point of no-return is no longer over the horizon.” This follows the release of the UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap report, which stated that we are on the brink of missing the opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But do these circumstances mean that the international community will recognize the critical role of local governments to advance appropriate climate action? Will there be a more concerted effort to finance such climate action in the world’s least developed countries, which will feel the worst effects of climate change. And will this signal rising support for adaptation measures in relation to mitigation?

David Jackson, Director of the Local Development Finance Practice of UNCDF who oversees our local climate adaptation programme (LoCAL), shares his thoughts on all of these questions, as well as what we can reasonably expect from this year’s COP25. We sat down with David just days before COP25. 

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias

If you were asked "what is the difference between women's economic empowerment and women's economic development," would you know the answer?

Women's economic empowerment has been an essential driver of the economic development agenda; uniting individual nations, multilateral organizations, NGOs and impact investors. But what does successful women's economic empowerment truly mean, particularly in the world's least developed countries? How can success be achieved when cultural challenges are pervasive and profound? And what are the prospects of achieving women's economic empowerment in the LDCs when we are so far behind in achieving the SDGs?

Samina Anwar, Programme Manager for the Inclusive and Equitable Local Development programme--a joint programme of UN Women, UNDP and UNCDF--offers her insights on the future of women's economic empowerment in the LDCs and beyond. She also answers this question: if we do not achieve SDG5 (Gender Equality) by 2030, what would have been the reason?

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Carlos Macias, Fernando Zarauz

The city of Los Angeles, with a population of roughly 4 million people, can issue a bond to fund infrastructure construction. Yet, the city of Nairobi—the capital city of Kenya with a population of roughly 3.5 million people—is effectively, if not actually, unable to do the same. Despite the global trend of urbanization, cities and local governments in developing countries experience tremendous difficulty accessing capital in international markets. If this persists, then sustainable development will ultimately skip over the cities, countries and markets where it is needed the most. On episode 3 of Capital Musings, we talk with Jaffer Machano, Global Programme Manager for UNCDF’s Municipal Investment Finance programme, about the challenges municipalities in developing countries face in accessing capital, and UNCDF’s vision for addressing this challenge.

Capital Musings is a production of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications unit of the United Nations Capital Development Fund and UN Web TV.

Producers: Victoria Guridi, Fernando Zarauz, Carlos Macias