Day: August 13, 2025

For the past half-century, Global summit has been the premier gathering of people who lead community philanthropy, whether as practitioners, funders or researchers. Participants share ideas, discuss emerging issues and connect with peers from around the world.

Back in 2004 a gathering in Berlin marked a turning point for the community foundation movement. At that time, Central and Eastern Europe was a hot-bed for new development, reflecting the dramatic political, social and economic changes that had taken place.

In the run up to a summit, senior officials – like sherpas in the mountains – thrash out the issues for discussion and do the diplomatic legwork. It’s a similar story when it comes to global meetings such as the G20, where leaders meet every year to recommit their countries to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

As a result, discussions are often driven by the latest global risks and opportunities. This was certainly the case when members met in January at Davos to explore how emerging technologies can help build a more inclusive global economy, better adapt to geoeconomic shifts, develop human capital, drive greener economies and strengthen the global system.

At this year’s event, attendees heard from a wide range of powerful speakers including the 68th U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, conservationist and TV host Robert Irwin and the renowned author and journalist Fareed Zakaria. They spoke about a new axis that is emerging, where those who favour international cooperation and connection find themselves up against those who are embracing protectionism, nationalism and isolation.

As we enter a new year, global economic growth seems to be stabilizing, inflation is receding and interest rates seem to have peaked. But these positive signs alone are unlikely to solve a debt crisis that has been more than a decade in the making. Over 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt payments than on health and education, which means that they are losing out on opportunities for prosperity.

The underlying cause of the crisis is that low-income countries borrowed too much at extortionate interest rates during and after the financial crash of 2008. This was often driven by fiscal imprudence, but also by the fact that private lenders (including hedge funds, banks and traders) saw an opportunity to make vast profits.

These unsustainable debt levels are now leaving countries unable to finance essential services or take actions to tackle climate change. In 2023, 54 low-income countries devoted at least 10% of their budgets to debt interest payments, a figure that has doubled over the last ten years.

But, unlike the debt crises that have plagued individuals and businesses, there is no procedure for countries to declare bankruptcy when they can’t pay their debts over time. Instead, the world’s creditors decide whether and when to demand repayment. And the landscape is even more crowded today, with an increasing number of bilateral and multilateral lenders, including China, India and petrostates. This crowded architecture makes tackling the global debt crisis simultaneously more urgent and more complex than in the 1980s.