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Still, the world gathered in Seville, in sweltering temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, a not-too-subtle omen of the climate hell we were there to ostensibly avert. Around 6,000 corporate lobbyists (nearly half the attendees) swarmed plenary halls, peddling private capital for “investible development” while delegates from the global south pleaded for debt relief and climate finance.

United Nations summits typically unfold with a feverish intensity. Official delegates battle over every verb, dollar figure, and timeline in the outcome document. But there was little drama of multilateralism at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) this July in Seville, Spain. After the United States withdrew in June, delegates agreed on the final draft—the Seville Commitment —two weeks ahead of the actual meeting.

United Nations summits typically unfold with a feverish intensity. Official delegates battle over every verb, dollar figure, and timeline in the outcome document. But there was little drama of multilateralism at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) this July in Seville, Spain. After the United States withdrew in June, delegates agreed on the final draft—the Seville Commitment—two weeks ahead of the actual meeting.

Still, the world gathered in Seville, in sweltering temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, a not-too-subtle omen of the climate hell we were there to ostensibly avert. Around 6,000 corporate lobbyists (nearly half the attendees) swarmed plenary halls, peddling private capital for “investible development” while delegates from the global south pleaded for debt relief and climate finance.

A decade after its launch at the FFD conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the investible development paradigm remains the unshakable consensus.