BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:unctad.org BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6af35cfded346 DTSTART:20221020T130000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20221020T150000Z LOCATION:Online and Geneva\, Switzerland SUMMARY:High-level segment of the Trade and Development Board\, seventy-sec ond executive session CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Looking to the future: Getting the economy back on track and ad dressing the most pressing challengesA once-in-a-generation global cost-of -living crisis has been unfolding since 2020 and\, with the war in Ukraine \, it is now at critical levels. In the last three years\, the number of p eople who are food insecure has almost tripled to 350 million people.Pover ty has risen by 70 million people in just the first three months of the ye ar. Thirty per cent of middle-income countries and 60 per cent of low-inco me countries are near debt distress. Inflation is at multi-decades highs.C limate change is hitting harder each year\, pilling up costs at a time whe n countries lack the resources to deal with disaster\, let alone invest in their long-term development and achievement of the United Nations Sustain able Development Goals.Trade is being disrupted\, social unrest is rising\ , and peace and security are under threat.These challenges are all interco nnected. To resolve the current cascade of crises\, systemic and transform ative action will be needed\, focused on the three areas of work highlight ed above: bringing prices down\; increasing liquidity\; and preventing an even wider crisis in 2023. Cooperation in this context is an imperative.Ob jectiveThe objective of the high-level segment discussion at the seventy-s econd executive session of the Trade and Development Board is to enhance p olitical will and cooperation to face the current pressing challenges\, th rough systemic and transformative action that allows economies to get back on track.Key questionsWhat kinds of systemic action are needed to bring c ommodity prices down? How is trade policy\, including recent United Nation s-backed efforts such as the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the agreement for unimpeded access to Russian food and fertilizers\, able to help in the current context? How can further food trade export restrictions be avoide d? How can the world deal with an emerging finance and debt crisis in dev eloping countries? How can countries “undo the knot” and obtain suffic ient fiscal resources at a time when capital flight is high? What is the r ole of special drawing rights and multilateral development banks in findin g a solution? With winter looming on the horizon in the Northern Hemisphe re\, how can cooperation be sustained to avoid solutions that leave out ma ny vulnerable countries? How can a global scramble for energy resources\, particularly natural gas\, be avoided? In light of the twenty-seventh Con ference of the Parties in November 2022\, how can climate funding for deve loping countries be fostered? How can the international community go from the billions at hand to the trillions needed in the quest to fund the clim ate transition and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?FormatThe session will be hybrid\, and the UNCTAD Secretary-General will convene a p anel discussion. ProgrammeIntroductory remarks:Ms. Rebeca Grynspan\, Secr etary-General of UNCTADPanel discussion:Ms. Mia Amor Mottley\, Prime Minis ter of BarbadosMs. Sigrid Kaag\, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the NetherlandsMs. Amina Mohammed\, Deputy Secretary-General of the United NationsInteractive debate with Member States of UNCTADClosi ng remarks by Ms. Rebeca Grynspan\, Secretary-General of UNCTAD<\;h3 cla ss="\;text-align-center\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad. org/meeting/high-level-segment-trade-and-development-board-seventy-second- executive-session DTSTAMP:20261110T180549Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR