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The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences hosted a meeting on tax justice and solidarity. Yet what hovered above attendees was not the Holy Ghost, but Donald Trump.

The Swiss financial centre has demonstrated that it will not voluntarily give up business involving environmental degradation abroad. The Financial Centre Initiative aims to amend the Constitution to include a ban on new investments in coal, oil and gas by Swiss financial market players.

Much has been written in recent days about the dramatic dismantling of the American development agency USAID. It is now clear that not only was the agency destroyed in an undemocratic and unlawful manner, but that moreover, the decision is having worldwide repercussions. Despite its much-vaunted humanitarian tradition and advocacy of multilateralism through international Geneva, official Switzerland is still noticeably silent.

Impact Investment has gained popularity, particularly in Switzerland, a country known for its financial system and its aspirations for sustainable finance. As impact investing is often presented as a panacea for development challenges, Alliance Sud’s study takes a critical look at its effectiveness, its limitations and the extent to which it can contribute to sustainable development.

Many people favour greater use of private funding to cover current and future contributions from the countries in the North to those in the South in their fight against climate change. A stocktake by Laurent Matile

Imports of the most polluting products are to be taxed under the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). No exemption is being contemplated for the poorest countries, even though they will be severely affected. Should Switzerland ever adopt this measure, it would have to make sure to put this right.

Whether in regard to the CO2 Act or the new austerity programme: Swiss policymakers are relying increasingly on carbon certificates from abroad to meet their own climate target by 2030. Yet the plan could fail – the first programmes are already showing serious shortcomings. An analysis by Delia Berner

For decades, aid tied to countertrade transactions has been frowned upon in international cooperation. Donor countries seem hardly bothered by it, however. On the contrary. In Switzerland, too, tied aid is again becoming acceptable. An analysis by Laura Ebneter

Everlyn Muendo is following the UN negotiations for a framework convention for international cooperation in tax matters on behalf of the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA). In this interview, she analyses the current developments in the process in New York and explains why there is no longer any alternative to the UN for the Global South when it comes to international tax policy. Interview: Dominik Gross