Benefit in Sevilla as Kenya helps climate finance push
By Alberto Leny, July 8, 2025Last week’s Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Sevilla, Spain, was the most important United Nations summit to address the critical issue of increased development capital flows to the developed world.
While the outcome was not so successful, at least in the eyes of African and other developing countries, there was a notable gain as leaders pushed for better financial systems to help poor nations cope with the climate crisis and economic shocks.
Kenya joined eight countries to push for the taxation of premium plane tickets and private jet travel to pay for climate action.
FfD4 host UN is itself undergoing soul-searching reforms through the ‘UN80 Initiative’ launched by Secretary-General António Guterres ahead of its 80th anniversary for the organisation to remain effective, cost-efficient and responsive amid challenges like funding shortfalls, global crises and the need to adapt to a changing world.
At the UN’s once-a-decade conference on development finance in Sevilla, the UN chief joined other powerful men in suits, including Spain’s king and its prime minister in a sombre occasion, lamenting the shaky state of multilateralism, weak progress on the world’s sustainable development goals and the fall in funding to meet them.
Delegates went to FfD4 optimistic after countries agreed to a set of broad commitments in the Compromiso de Sevilla (Sevilla Deal or Sevilla Commitment) document, following months of fraught negotiations.
The Sevilla Commitment detailed actions to bridge the US$4 trillion financing gap to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ambitious consensus
It outlined a renewed global finance for development (FfD) framework, including provisions on domestic public resources, domestic and international private business and finance, international development cooperation and development effectiveness and international trade.
The Sevilla Commitment was approved without the US government’s participation, following its withdrawal from the negotiations.
Described by its co-facilitators as achieved through consensus, “balanced, ambitious and action-oriented,” the FfD4 outcome document tackled debt and debt sustainability and the international financial architecture, and contained commitments on science, technology, innovation and capacity building, and on data, monitoring and follow-up.
Compromiso de Sevilla committed countries to “take concrete actions to enhance fiscal space, address debt challenges of developing countries and lower the cost of capital”, measures that will spur countries to address the critical issue of climate finance that will be top of the agenda at the UN climate summit (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
However, in Sevilla, according to the authoritative UK-based digital publication, Climate Home News: “Landing a successful outcome was always going to be a heavy lift, especially given the cut-and-run strategy of the US government on overseas aid under President Donald Trump”.
It deserted the talks on a 42-page document, the ‘Sevilla Commitment’, adopted by 192 governments in the final stages after an effort to water down the text.
“Yet despite the gloomy backdrop, all was not lost. Campaigners were disappointed there was no strong push for a UN convention to help resolve developing countries’ debt trap – but it was clear momentum is growing for new ways of raising money, including for climate and nature protection,” added Climate Home.
Amid climate change impacts and falling aid budgets, leaders in Sevilla pushed for better financial systems to help poor nations cope with climate and economic shocks.
They backed innovative tools such as taxes on extreme wealth, levies on polluting transport and debt swaps to raise more money to tackle the climate crisis.
Guterres told journalists in Sevilla that countries must now put their minds to implementing new ways to mobilise money, including carbon taxes and levies on flying and shipping.
“It’s time to seriously think about innovative forms of financing – to put a tax on carbon, to create levies in relation to several areas of activity, namely the impacts of maritime transportation in relation to climate change,” Guterres said.
“There are many ways to multiply the resources if we have the political will for that”.
Eight countries, including France, Kenya and Spain came together on the sidelines of the conference to push for taxation of premium plane tickets and private jet travel to pay for climate action.
The newly-formed “Coalition of the Willing”, which also includes Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Benin, Sierra Leone and Somalia, aims to increase the number of countries applying such levies and agree on ways to distribute the money raised.
They are expected to announce the details of how the mechanism would work at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, this November, with changes in their own national legislation planned as soon as next year, according to Climate Home.
Global frameworks
Representatives from governments, financial institutions and civil society at FfD4 debated how to channel more money towards efforts to tackle climate change, hunger and health issues amid sweeping aid cuts.
“We need those that benefited from globalisation to contribute more to financing,” French President Emmanuel Macron said. “I urge all possible countries to join this international framework, as it is absolutely key”.
The members of the new coalition said that, ahead of COP30, they would work to persuade more governments to apply flight ticket levies to support energy transitions and climate resilience both at home and in other countries.
Brazil and Spain, meanwhile, launched a separate coalition to advance work on taxing the super-rich, joined by South Africa and building on a G20 agreement in 2024.
The initiative aims to incentivise other countries and civil society to sign up and address policy, administrative and data deficiencies preventing high-net-worth individuals from being taxed more efficiently in line with their wealth.
It signals growing support for international tax negotiations at the UN and promises to evaluate legislative initiatives on taxing the ultra-rich.
A 42-page document, the ‘Sevilla Commitment’ adopted by 192 governments at the FfD4, warned that time is running out to address the climate crisis, and noted that the world is “falling short in tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification”.
They stressed the urgency of increasing ambition for climate action through the UN’s climate process—UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to a warming climate, and provide finance to developing countries to help them put their climate plans into practice.
The US participated in the month-long negotiations on the development financing ahead of FfD4 but withdrew in the final stages and said it would not attend the conference in Spain.
Under Trump, the US has ended the majority of its aid and climate spending for the Global South.
The Seville declaration to help increase climate finance for the Global South included countries agreeing to take the environment, nature, climate and food security into account when planning national budgets, in line with their own unique needs and development priorities.
It also recommends climate insurance, tapping capital markets to fund climate action, pre-arranged disaster aid in the face of rising climate stresses and shocks, debt pauses and debt swaps for climate.
Another recommendation identifies the need to make it easier for developing countries to access money from international climate funds, as they have long called for.