The New Development Bank and the ecological transition: Decoupling development finance from core currency hegemony?

This paper investigates the role of the New Development Bank (NDB) in challenging global financial hierarchies while fostering an ecological transition. The NDB, established by BRICS, has a mechanism of providing development finance in local currency, which could reduce dependency on core currencies like the dollar (USD) and the euro (EUR), offering an alternative for peripheral economies to finance sustainable development. Given the institutionalization of the green economy agenda and the rise of green finance, the paper raises elements to assess the NDB's contribution to the ecological transition through its investment strategy. Our analysis builds on structuralist and dependency theories, identifying three interlinked hierarchies - productive, currency, and environmental - that shape global financial asymmetries. We examine the NDB's project portfolio from 2016 to 2024 and the interplay between the projects' area of operation, currency of funding, and country of implementation. The findings indicate that, while the NDB has made strides in funding sustainable infrastructure, its operations remain largely embedded within dominant currency systems.