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A protest march holding a fan that reads "debt kills development" to demonstration against global wealth inequality amid the United Nations International Conference on Financing and Development in Seville (Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images)

A protester holding a fan that reads “debt kills development” to demonstration against global wealth inequality amid the United Nations International Conference on Financing and Development in Seville (Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images)

UN development summit shows who’s really fanning the flames

Seville’s sweltering UN conference exposed deep rifts between those pushing private finance and advocates for debt justice.

Melissa Conley Tyler

17 July 20255 min read

The UN International Conference on Financing for Development is a big deal. It is held only once a decade, on a topic that the majority of the world – developing countries – cares about deeply.

Global cuts to aid make this a particularly vital time to think about the alternatives to official development assistance, so more than 15,000 delegates made their way to Seville for the conference which opened 30 June. With Australia and the Pacific seeking to host COP31 in 2026, it was a great opportunity to see what a huge international summit really involves.

Immediately it was clear that an international event of this size is not just one thing. There’s an official program – with countries presenting their national statements one after another. More than 50 heads of state and government came and held bilateral meetings, as well as ministerial-level representatives. Australia was represented by the new Minister for International Development Anne Aly – already active and engaged in her portfolio.

All this makes it newsworthy. A massive media centre was humming, interpreting and sharing the results with the world, with a press room and a pavilion for working journalists.

At the venue alongside the official program, there was an International Business Forum looking at the issues that go into providing finance to developing countries: on debt, financing, blended finance, credit ratings and more.

There were more than 400 side meetings and special sessions. And there was a Civil Society Forum and a Feminist Forum – held before the main event – which pushed to be given more space in the official program and was eventually given the chance to stage a civil society organisation action in the main venue.

So, in essence, it is a gathering of different tribes, all with their own interest in being there. There are dogged advocates for global justice; reputable and less reputable people looking for investors; technology entrepreneurs; diplomats smoothly guiding VIPs from meeting to meeting; researchers looking to make their name – and established experts talking to other experts around the world.

If Australia wins its bid for the climate change COP31 – an even bigger event – it will have to manage the same tensions in a gathering of many tribes.

What made the experience in Seville delightful was a simple way to identify your tribe.

With the temperature above 40 degrees for every day of the event, organisers realised that the local custom of using decorative fans would help the visitors cope. Thus, I learned the language of the fans.

I admit you couldn’t tell much about someone who had an official “FfD4” fan from the welcome pack or from the train company providing transport. If you had a personal one (as I did), it marked you as a local or an over-prepared fashion victim.

But there were many other fans that made very clear where a person was coming from. ActionAid fans bore the words “cancel the debt”. Latindadd fans declared “financial justice means development for all”. Oxfam representatives kept cool with “tax the super rich”.

The fans showed starkly the very different framings and language being used by different groups – and illuminated the controversy at the heart of the discussions.

A demonstration with a fan that reads “Make Polluters Pay” amid the United Nations International Conference on Financing and Development in Seville (Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images)

Fans showed starkly the very different framings and language being used by different groups(Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images)

The conference focused on mobilising private finance to drive development. We are in a time where rich country governments don’t want to provide funds for international development – as we can see from aid cuts worldwide – so other mechanisms are being sought. The language is around “mobilising domestic resources”, “leveraging private finance” and “creating the enabling conditions for private finance to flow to development”.

But those with slogans on their fans generally see global finance as the problem – something that has to be tamed to give sovereignty to poorer nations. The language they use is around “justice”, “equity”, solidarity and the struggle for “a more just and humane future”. They see the current global economic system as failing and in need of transformation. They are not against official development assistance, but see it as a debt that is owed to the Global South. They are concerned about use of public money to attract private resources.

These two very different views came to a head in the final plenary session where the representatives from states, United Nations bodies, media and civil society – each group corralled in their own areas – listened in turn to the recommendations of the International Business Forum and the Civil Society Forum. The International Business Forum recommendations focused on mobilising private capital to finance development, expanding access to finance for underserved markets. The Civil Society Forum declaration focused on debt cancellation, an effective global taxation system and a more democratic and accountable global financial system.

In closing, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez tried to have it both ways. He talked about the importance of mobilising private capital – and also of an inclusive process involving civil society. Sánchez commended this “laboratory of ideas” and focused on the practical ideas for action that came from the event. UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed noted that 370 specific activities had been agreed as part of the Sevilla Platform for Action – across many tribes – including a new tool for multilateral development banks on currency, a commission to look at international development cooperation, and a solidarity levy on private jet flights.

If Australia wins its bid for the climate change COP31 – an even bigger event – it will have to manage the same tensions in a gathering of many tribes. With Adelaide selected as the venue, a similar heat might be felt. Perhaps we should provide fans.