Shaping the Future of Multilateralism - Feminist, Decolonial Economic Solutions to Address Interconnected Global Crises

The undeniable connections among the multiple crises that humanity faces today -- climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, poverty, and the Covid-19 pandemic -- demand interconnected, rather than segmented, macro solutions. Responses must be systemic and address the structural dynamics and shortcomings of governance, economics and finance. A feminist and decolonial framing provides a lens for proposed reforms. That perspective would acknowledge the centrality of women’s paid and unpaid care work for global prosperity, and it would recognize how the Global North continues to drain resources and withhold decision-making power from the Global South. A potential way forward would combine rejuvenation of the United Nations system, cancellation of debt, a focus on tax justice, reform of the financial sector, and elimination of extraterritoriality that shields public and private actors from accountability for human rights violations and environmental degradation.