“Let me assure you that it is not just civil society who recognizes the destructive role that the current multilateral trading system plays. The G77 and China proposed several rounds of progressive language in the FfD4 Outcome Document. They recognize that the challenges they face are structural– that the multilateral trading system cannot act as an engine of development in its current form. That rather than propelling development, trade is an anchor around their development priorities. Yet, we see little trace of this progressive language in the Outcome Document. It falls far short of what civil society and developing countries had hoped, and does next to nothing in rectifying structural problems with the multilateral trading system. We are shocked to hear it described as a success.”
Unwavering in her critique of the FfD4 Outcome Document and process, Erica Levenson addressed Member States on behalf of Regions Refocus and the Civil Society Financing for Development (FfD) mechanism during Multi-Stakeholder Roundtable 4 at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain. Held from 30 June-3 July, 2025, the FfD4 Conference was a once-in-a-decade opportunity to advance normative change– this chance was largely squandered.
The statement emphasized that the stakes for real change couldn’t be higher: we are facing multiple intersecting crises– including economic, political, ecological, and social– and trade has played a significant role in the formation and exacerbation of each of them. Adding to the challenge of harnessing trade as a source of financing for development is the increasing digitalization of trade. Only 35% of people in developing countries have access to the internet, corresponding to structural inequalities along lines of class, race, ethnicity, and gender. The barriers which have led to this divide are in no small part created by unequal distribution of gains from trade.
Levenson concluded with a strong warning to Member States not to underestimate the growing recognition among developing countries of the destructive role that the current multilateral trading system plays. As she detailed in the quote above, it is not for lack of trying that the Trade section fails to take action. Civil society will continue to work with developing countries in other fora and continue the fight for trade justice, including the UNCTAD16 process.
