Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs has spent decades advising world leaders and challenging the prevailing orthodoxy of Western economic dominance. A longtime advocate for multilateralism and sustainable development, his views are shaped by an unwavering belief that the global economy must serve humanity.

Currently serving as Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Jeffrey Sachs holds the university’s highest academic rank of University Professor. He is also President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an SDG Advocate for UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Sachs has held advisory roles to three UN Secretaries-General, shaping global responses to issues ranging from climate change to extreme poverty.

Throughout his career, Jeffrey Sachs has pushed for a fundamental rethinking of international development. His early work at Harvard and later the Earth Institute placed him at the center of pivotal economic reforms in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. A vocal critic of US exceptionalism and unilateralism, Sachs believes the greatest challenge of our time is the widening gap between the interests of wealthy nations and the needs of the developing world. He sees multilateral platforms like the G20 as essential, but laments the lack of genuine cooperation.

He credits China’s elimination of extreme poverty as one of the most significant achievements in modern development history and believes it offers a blueprint for African nations seeking to leapfrog into a more prosperous future. In this view, China’s role as a provider of green infrastructure, digital connectivity, and long-term financing positions it as a catalyst for the next wave of global development.

A prolific author, Jeffrey Sachs has written several influential books including The End of Poverty, Common Wealth, The Price of Civilization, and The Ages of Globalization. In an era of growing geopolitical fragmentation, Sachs believes that sustainable development is a strategic necessity for global stability.