By Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, Otaviano Canuto and Pepe ZhangWASHINGTON, DC — Global poverty rose last year for the first time since 1998 as the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed an additional 97 million people below the international threshold of $1.9 per day.

By Mark Malloch-Brown, Raj Shah, and Darren WalkerNEW YORK — COVID-19 has bifurcated the world like almost nothing else.

By Manish Bapna, Frannie Leautier and Rémy RiouxWASHINGTON, DC — A climate-resilient future requires public finance. But strong, long-term strategies for financing climate action have, so far, received little attention.

By Ori Heffetz and John A. ListITHACA/CHICAGO — Without rigorous research and open inquiry, the breakthroughs that have defined the modern era, saving countless lives and delivering tremendous economic growth, never would have happened.

By Leonard Benardo and Ivan KrastevNEW YORK/VIENNA — When the post-Cold War world was still in its infancy, there was a palpable sense of excitement about history’s potential end.

By Ashley Alder and Jon CunliffeHONG KONG/LONDON — Rapid technological change is increasingly spurring private, and often Big Tech-promoted, initiatives throughout the world of finance, particularly in the payments domain.

By Gordon Brown and Allan GoodmanLONDON — The ongoing flood of refugees from Afghanistan, now some 2.6 million strong, is sadly no isolated tragedy.

By Juan Manuel Santos, Svenja Schulze, Carole Dieschbourg, Teresa Ribera, Zac Goldsmithand Pascal Canfin BOGOTÁ — Biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people around the world are declining at an unprecedented rate.

By Werner Hoyer and John Murton BRUSSELS — The economics of renewable energy have improved beyond recognition. Solar power is now the cheapest form of electricity in history. Over 90 per cent of power-generation capacity added around the world last year was in renewables.