Financing for Development: Conjucture and trends amidst the crisis of multilateralism

The UN estimates the sustainable development financing gap to be in the order of $4 trillion annually (United Nations General Assembly, 2025). Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States in 2025 not only posed an obstacle to the increase in funding already deemed necessary but also led to catastrophic losses in both development finance and humanitarian aid volumes. This landscape of cutbacks, compounded by climate and geopolitical crises, has intensified tragic situations across the globe; the responses emerging to address these complex challenges increasingly involve private interests, whose actions require scrutiny if we are to avoid exacerbating inequalities.

This Policy Brief, prepared by Professor Isabel Rocha de Siqueira—coordinator of the Critical Approaches to Development network (ACD-Rede)—and research assistants Enzo Cosenza and Luis Ehl, aims to analyze this concerning situation and highlight key factors to monitor.