The key global development moments Devex is watching in 2025

At Devex, we don’t just report on the moments that matter for global development. We show up where the action happens, sending our reporters to cover what is happening behind the scenes, convening events that spark critical conversations, and providing real-time insights through special edition newsletters, podcasts, and exclusive on-the-ground coverage. Here are some of the key moments we’re following in 2025, from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the ski resort town of Davos, Switzerland, to the United Nations COP30 climate conference in the gateway to the Amazon rainforest in Belém, Brazil. Each January, the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting transforms Davos, Switzerland, into a hub for high-level networking and cross-sector partnerships. This year marks 25 years since Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance launched in Davos in 2000. This year’s theme, “collaboration for the intelligent age,” highlights topics such as reimagining growth, safeguarding the planet, and rebuilding trust. While official sessions take place in the conference center, side events and pop-ups along the promenade provide additional opportunities for organizations to connect and showcase their work. An expanded badge system and stricter oversight will shape the dynamic in 2025. ✍️ Sign up to follow our special coverage from Davos, including a special edition newsletter, podcast interviews, and exclusive insights from Devex reporters and editors on the ground. The Munich Security Conference is the leading global forum for discussing international security policy, with implications for global development and humanitarian aid. Last year’s event, the 60th iteration of MSC, featured discussions on issues including sustainable development, climate finance, food systems, global refugee movements, and humanitarian law. We’ll have a small team onsite to cover and drive conversations on the interconnectedness of security and development, with topics likely to include the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, and the potential security and development impacts of a Trump presidency. We’ll also host a panel on security and sustainable finance in Latin America and the Caribbean. 📢 Stay tuned for our coverage, including a special edition newsletter. In March, Devex will return to the South by Southwest, or SXSW, conference in Austin, Texas. As a hub of global innovation, SXSW is an increasingly important stage for shaping conversations on a more sustainable and inclusive future. Known for its eclectic mix of tech innovators and policymakers, it’s become a draw for global development leaders looking to break out of the usual event circuit. This year, SXSW will spotlight breakthroughs across several areas related to the Sustainable Development Goals, including health and med tech, food, climate, and sustainability. 🔔 Make sure you’re subscribed to our daily Newswire to follow our coverage and our podcast, This Week in Global Development, to catch our coverage from SXSW. Nutrition for Growth, or N4G, is a global initiative to mobilize governments, donors, businesses, and U.N. agencies to make financial and policy commitments to improve globally. The major pledging conference takes place every four years in the same country that hosted the most recent Olympics and Paralympic Games. The last summit, held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, raised a record $27 billion from 181 groups across 78 countries, and in 2025, N4G will take place in Paris, France. Against a backdrop of tightened aid budgets and global crises, next year’s summit seeks to redefine nutrition’s role as not just a health issue but a driver of gender equality, economic resilience, and climate adaptation. 🥣 Make sure you’re subscribed to Devex Dish, our weekly newsletter on the transformation of the global food system, to follow our news and analysis before, during, and after Nutrition for Growth. The 2025 World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., are pivotal for shaping the global development agenda and the future of development finance. U.S. engagement under Donald Trump will be a key focus, including whether Trump follows through on U.S. commitments to the International Development Association, or IDA, which provides low-interest loans and grants to the world’s lowest-income countries. The meetings also offer a status check on priorities such as World Bank President Ajay Banga’s jobs agenda and progress on energy and health initiatives announced last year. Devex will be onsite, covering events, moderating discussions, and engaging in side conversations. We’ll also be the media partner for the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth’s Global Inclusive Growth Summit, gathering a dynamic group of global leaders, innovators, and changemakers committed to building more inclusive economies in DC on April 24, 2025. 💰 Make sure you’re subscribed to Devex Invested, our weekly newsletter on business, finance, and the SDGs, to follow the news from the conference. The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, making it a critical event for global health policy. At the 78th Session of the World Health Assembly, or WHA 78, member states are expected to hammer out the final details of an agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, following more than three years of negotiations. The WHO board will set the agenda for WHA early next year. But the team behind Devex CheckUp, our weekly newsletter on global health, will be watching topics including action on antimicrobial resistance, HIV targets, health financing, and global health security rules. There’s also likely to be a lot of conversation on what a Trump presidency means for global health organizations and priorities, with concerns about a potential rollback of funding and influence from the U.S., the largest donor to global health. 💊 Sign up to follow for our special coverage at Devex @ WHA 78, including reporting from our CheckUp team, podcast interviews, and a summit that will take place in person and online on May 21 and 22. London Climate Action Week is an annual event that emphasizes cross-sector collaboration ahead of the annual Conference of the Parties, or COP. Last year, Devex hosted Climate + Finance, spotlighting innovative financial solutions for adaptation and loss and damage, as low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of climate impacts. Since then, we’ve brought on two new climate reporters: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, who is based in London, and Ayenat Mersie, who is based in Nairobi. They were on the ground for COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and will be covering these issues closely in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém, Brazil. 🌱 Sign up for updates on our event at London Climate Action Week 2025, as well as our reporting and special edition podcasts happening in London and in the lead-up to COP30. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development will explore how collaboration between governments, the private sector, and international institutions can help to close the $4 trillion annual financing gap to achieve the SDGs. Held once every decade, this year’s conference will advance proposals to reform the global financial architecture — the systems and rules that govern the economy — addressing critical issues such as debt, taxation, and aid. While not a repeat of the 2015 summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, similar themes — domestic resource mobilization, global tax reforms, and increased private sector engagement — will take center stage, reflecting the unfinished business of past commitments. 📈 Make sure you’re subscribed to Devex Invested, our weekly newsletter on business, finance, and the SDGs, to follow the news from the conference. The U.N. General Assembly is a key global event where leaders discuss international issues and progress on achieving the SDGs. Devex will be on the scene at UNGA and the concurrent New York Climate Week 2025, covering official proceedings, side events, and behind-the-scenes conversations. Key topics include the impact of social media and disinformation on U.N. operations, the influence of a Trump presidency on U.S. diplomacy efforts, and the urgent push to meet SDG targets with just five years remaining to reach the targets by 2030. 🎤 Sign up for updates on our coverage, including special edition newsletters, podcast episodes, and details on our summit, taking place Sept. 23 to 25 in New York City and online. The World Health Summit is a global health conference growing in influence, bringing together leaders from science, politics, business, and civil society to address critical health challenges. Last year’s event focused on the decrease in global health funding at a moment when so many multilaterals and funds are on the hunt for support, with groups including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria working on replenishment rounds. With Germany’s upcoming snap elections in February and the anticipated change in national leadership, it remains to be seen whether the World Health Summit — which has drawn strong support from the country’s governing party in the past — will continue to prioritize health financing. 🩺 Make sure you’re subscribed to Devex CheckUp, our weekly newsletter on global health, to follow news from the summit. The World Bank annual meetings are held in Washington, D.C., two out of every three years — they took place in Morocco in 2023, D.C. in 2024, and are set for Thailand in 2026. As with the Spring Meetings, Devex will be closely tracking Ajay Banga’s progress on his ambitious jobs agenda, aimed at positioning the Bank as a leader in sustainable employment creation. We’ll also assess progress on commitments to clean energy and health systems strengthening made during last year’s Spring Meetings. And U.S. engagement under the Trump administration is likely to be a critical focus. Through our coverage and in-person convenings, Devex will explore major topics shaping the discussions, from the global debt crisis to the World Bank’s evolving role in tackling climate challenges to mobilizing private capital to achieve the SDGs. ⭐ Check out coverage from Devex World 2024, our event on the sidelines of the 2024 World Bank annual meetings, here. And make sure you’re subscribed to Devex Invested, our weekly newsletter on business, finance, and the SDGs, for real-time updates and deep dives into the critical issues shaping the meetings. We’ll be in touch with further details on coverage and convenings around the 2025 World Bank annual meetings. The 30th annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP30, will be a critical conference for global climate negotiations, with significant implications for sustainable development. COP30 will be hosted in Belém, Brazil, one of the gateway cities to the Amazon rainforest. The location is likely to boost discussions about forest conservation and Indigenous communities, especially as Brazil has cut its own Amazon deforestation by nearly 50% in just two years. But the big topic will be Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, say Devex climate reporters Ayenat Mersie and Jesse Chase-Lubitz, who covered COP29 for Devex in Baku, Azerbaijan. In 2025, countries are due to submit their NDCs, which should show updated and more ambitious commitments to reducing greenhouse gases. We might see some efforts to combine these climate goals with biodiversity goals, too. COP30 could also be straddled with some of the pieces that COP29 left unresolved: A gap in financing, especially for adaptation, an agreement on fossil fuel phase-out, and a lack of advancement on the Loss and Damage Fund and the Mitigation Work Program. 🌎 Sign up to follow our coverage from COP30, from insider reporting and analysis to podcast interviews with leaders gathered in Brazil, and don’t miss details on our summit taking place onsite. South Africa is the first African nation to assume the presidency of the Group of 20, or G20, an informal gathering of many of the world’s largest economies. Next year’s G20 summit, organized under the themes of solidarity, equality, and sustainability, will focus on inclusive economic growth, food security, and AI while championing the development priorities of Africa and the global south. This presidency offers South Africa a chance to shape global action on issues such as climate finance, debt relief, and the Sustainable Development Goals. With a focus on debt vulnerabilities and reforming multilateral development banks, South Africa aims to alleviate the burdens that hinder progress in low- and middle-income countries. It will also champion a just energy transition, leveraging Africa’s renewable energy potential and pushing for the financial and infrastructure support needed to make it a reality. ⚡ Make sure you’re subscribed to our daily Newswire to follow our coverage. ✉️ Do you want to be a part of our coverage or convenings during these key moments? And is there anything you would add to the list that we might be missing? Feel free to get in touch with me directly at catherine.cheney@devex.com.