FfD4 Side Event: Intergenerational Fairness in Financing for Development

Abstract

As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) charts the path toward a more just and sustainable global financial system, this side event will explore how intergenerational fairness perspectives and strategic foresight can be integrated into the implementation of FfD4 outcomes. Anchored in a global youth-led research initiative, the session will feature insights from a pre-conference workshop in Sevilla and bring together young leaders, foresight experts, and policymakers to reimagine financing systems that serve both present and future generations.

Participants will unpack how FfD4 outcome areas—debt sustainability, systemic issues, international development cooperation, the global financing framework, and follow-up mechanisms—can be approached through the lens of intergenerational justice. The event will also highlight tools and strategies to make these systems more inclusive, accountable, and future-resilient, while supporting youth mobilization and coalition-building for long-term impact.

This space is a launchpad for action—bridging generational divides to deliver financing solutions that endure beyond 2030.

Background

In the Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations (DFG), UN Member States acknowledged that sustainable, fair, and equitable development requires the meaningful participation of youth and the protection of the needs of future generations. These values are essential in shaping and implementing the outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).

As the global community seeks to reform international financial frameworks to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in the eyes of young people, current governance mechanisms are increasingly seen as outdated and inequitable. Intergenerational fairness and futures-thinking offer new lenses and tools to break through inertia and embed long-term responsibility into climate and development financing decisions.

This side event aims to convene a diverse set of stakeholders to explore how intergenerational fairness and strategic foresight can be integrated into the implementation of FfD4's outcomes, taking steps to ensure they serve both present and future generations.

About the Research Project

This side event is part of a youth-led global research initiative exploring intergenerational equity/fairness, including in climate and development finance. As a contribution to this project, a youth-led workshop will be held in Sevilla (outside the FfD4 venue) on Tuesday, 1 July 2025, to gather perspectives, practices, expectations, and priorities from youth advocates - which will be shared during the side event.

Event Objectives

• Integrate intergenerational perspectives into the implementation and follow-up of FfD4 outcomes.
• Explore how foresight and future-thinking tools can make financing decisions more inclusive and future-resilient.
• Feed into a broader youth-led research initiative focused on Intergenerational equity in climate and development finance.
• Identify the barriers, enablers, and change levers for embedding intergenerational fairness into financial systems.
• Support youth coalition-building and futures-thinking skills development around the FfD4 agenda.

Key Issues to Explore

• How can FfD4 outcomes help mobilize intergenerational fairness? On the contrary, what are potential risks for intergenerational fairness?
• Why and how should intergenerational fairness and futures-thinking be operationalized in global financial frameworks at national and international levels?
• What accountability mechanisms can we ensure for FfD4 outcomes implementation to uphold commitments to future generations?
• How can we use the youth-led research to mobilize young people and build intergenerational coalitions that hold FfD-related actors and ecosystems accountable?

Co-Organisers

Contact Information

For inquiries, please contact:

• gen@theglobalyouth.co
• takeaction@theglobalyouth.co