UN GLOBAL CRISIS RESPONSE GROUP on Food, Energy and Finance
In March 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres established the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG) to respond to the unprecedented interconnected food, energy and finance crises in the world.
Inflation, food insecurity, soaring energy and food prices, supply chain disruptions and mounting debt are among the pressing challenges added to a world recovering from the human and economic losses of the COVID-19 pandemic and facing the ongoing threat of climate change and the war in Ukraine.
These challenges are particularly acute in developing economies.
Reports
A three-dimensional crisis
Countries and people with limited capacity to cope are the most affected by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Three main transmission channels generate these effects: rising food prices, rising energy prices, and tightening financial conditions. Each of these elements can have important effects on its own, but they can also feed into each other creating vicious cycles.
Food
We urge all countries to keep markets open, resist unjustified and unnecessary export restrictions, and make reserves available to countries at risk of hunger and famine.
Energy
The use of strategic stockpiles and additional reserves could help to ease the energy crisis in the short term. But the only medium- and long-term solution is to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.
Finance
We need urgent action by the G20 and international financial institutions to increase liquidity and fiscal space so that governments can provide safety nets for the poorest and most vulnerable.
Related agreements on food and fertilizers
The GCRG’s work on the food aspect of the global crisis helped lead to the signing of two agreements to address growing global food insecurity around the world.
The Black Sea Initiative
On 22 July, the United Nations, the Russian Federation, Türkiye and Ukraine agreed the Black Sea Initiative, at a signing ceremony in Istanbul.
The initiative was set up to reintroduce vital food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world. A Joint Coordination Centre was established to monitor implementation.
Memorandum of Understanding
This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the United Nations and the Russian Federation in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, at the same time as the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Together they pave the way for food and fertilizer to reach global markets, which will help to stabilize spiralling food prices worldwide and stave off famine, affecting millions.
Pulse of the global crisis
The dashboard provides the latest data on the food, energy and finance aspects of the global crisis. The data is updated weekly or monthly depending on the source.
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Videos
UN Global Crisis Response Group addresses the war in Ukraine’s global impacts
Developing countries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic face new challenges from the war in Ukraine.
Press conference (first report): Global impact of the war in Ukraine on food, energy and finance systems
The UN Global Crisis Response Group calls for immediate action to avert cascading impacts of war in Ukraine.
Press conference (second report): Billions of people face the greatest cost-of-living crisis in a generation
The war in Ukraine threatens to unleash an “unprecedented wave” of global hunger and destitution.
Press conference (third brief): Energy crisis
Skyrocketing energy prices are compounding an existential cost-of-living crisis for hundreds of millions of people.
Podcasts
Aiming the aid: Why development funding needs refocusing
The Weekly Tradecast looks at international aid and how more is needed to boost economies and people with Julia Gruebler from the technical team of the UN Global Crisis Response Group.
Going up: The human costs of rising prices
In the first episode of the Weekly Tradecast, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan talks about the global cost-of-living crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine and what can be done to help vulnerable countries and people who will suffer the most from rising food, energy and fertilizer prices.
Credit crunch: Why we need an effective global system to deal with debt
This episode of The Weekly Tradecast looks at debt – what it is, how it works and why it matters – with economist Daniel Munevar from UNCTAD’s debt and development finance branch.
Related UNCTAD publications
News
