Climate change, the cost of capital and the looming debt crisis in the global South
Join us to hear Ulrich Volz talk about his research on 'Climate change, the cost of capital and the looming debt crisis in the global South'. This talk will be chaired by IIPP’s Antonio Andreoni with a discussion from Katie Kedward, IIPP Policy Fellow. Followed by questions from the audience.

This seminar will first highlight the links between climate change and sovereign risk, discuss the effects that climate vulnerability has on the cost of government debt, and emphasise the need for enhancing economic resilience and climate-proofing public finances.
Against this backdrop, the second part of the seminar will subsequently discuss the urgent need to address the looming debt crisis in the global south, and present a proposal for debt relief for a green and inclusive recovery that will empower governments to invest in climate resilience and other strategic areas of sustainable development.
- Discussants: Katie Kedward
- Chair: Antonio Andreoni
Background material linked to this seminar
Volz, U., J. Beirne, N. Ambrosio Preudhomme, A. Fenton, E. Mazzacurati, N. Renzhi, and J. Stampe (2020), Climate Change and Sovereign Risk. London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Berkeley, CA: SOAS University of London, Asian Development Bank Institute, World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore, and Four Twenty Seven. https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00033524
Volz, U., Akhtar, S., Gallagher, K.P., Griffith-Jones, S., Haas, J., and Kraemer, M. (2021), Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery: Securing Private- Sector Participation and Creating Policy Space for Sustainable Development. Berlin, London, and Boston, MA: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung; SOAS, University of London; and Boston University. https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00035254
Beirne, J., N. Renzhi, and U. Volz (2021), "Feeling the Heat: Climate Risks and the Cost of Sovereign Borrowing". International Review of Economics & Finance 76, 920-936.
Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance
SOAS, University of London
[[{"fid":"12365","view_mode":"small","fields":{"format":"small","alignment":"left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Ulrich Volz","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"small","alignment":"left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Ulrich Volz","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"2395","width":"1597","class":"media-element file-small media-wysiwyg-align-left"}}]]Ulrich Volz is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance and Professor of Economics at SOAS, University of London. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the German Development Institute and Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Leipzig. Ulrich is a director of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment and serves on the advisory panel of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. He is co-chair of the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Initiative and member of the NGFS-INSPIRE Study Group on Biodiversity and Financial Stability. Ulrich was part of the UN Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System and has acted as an advisor to several governments, central banks, international organisations and development agencies on matters of macroeconomic policy, sustainable finance and development.