economic and Financial Affairs council

Note: This committee is a dual-delegate committee.

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Background guide and position paper guidelines/submission available now. Position papers are required for General Assembly committees. Please email position papers to gaucho@ucsbmun.org.

 

Topic A: ​Debt Relief and Financial Aid for Developing Nations: Climate Adaptation
As floods, droughts, and storms exacerbate in the face of climate change, developing countries struggle with heavy debt burdens and limited fiscal space. For example, in November of 2025, post-hurricane Jamaica was seeking aid that would not burden the country with overwhelming debt, as its $500 million in reserves for climate disasters was too far from the estimated $10 billion in bills for reconstruction efforts. In the face of climate change, developing countries are having to sacrifice essential infrastructure, agriculture, and climate disaster-response systems in order to pay off debt that has been accumulating for hundreds of years. As a result, these countries that experience the worst effects of climate change have the most restricted economic ability to adapt to climate changes. Delegates will consider the economic, environmental, and institutional factors that shape how states respond to climate impacts and how the global financial system influences those efforts.​

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Topic B: Addressing the Regulation of the Informal Economy

In many countries, a significant share of economic activity occurs outside formal regulatory and tax systems. This is informal work and it provides livelihoods for large portions of the population, however it presents challenges for accurately measuring economic output, ensuring labor protections, and developing effective fiscal policy. For instance, in 2016, India's government withdrew high-denomination currency notes from circulation. Because an estimated 80–90% of transactions in India’s informal economy relied on cash, many unregistered small businesses, street vendors, and day-laborers experienced sharp disruptions. The sudden loss of liquid cash highlighted how deeply informal activity was embedded in national employment and how difficult it was for policymakers to regulate or measure the sector’s true size. Governments approaches to the informal sector vary, ranging from efforts to expand formalization to strategies focused on support, oversight, or data collection. In this committee, delegates will examine the economic and institutional factors that contribute to informal economies and consider how different regulatory approaches affect development, employment, and financial stability.