The latest news on Spain. At the UN's flagship development finance conference in Seville, empty seats and absent leaders cast a long shadow over ambitions to tackle global inequality and climate vulnerability. In the end, United States officials backed out altogether.
"The entire community was very afraid of coming here because one country wasn't attending," said UN Assistant Secretary General Marcos Neto. "But the document ended up working out... I'm leaving happy, with more optimism than I thought I would leave with."
Despite efforts to boost cooperation and funding mechanisms, only a handful of nations engaged meaningfully, while many donors shifted focus toward domestic priorities. A final agreement was reached, offering some hope, but meaningful progress remains uncertain.