The impact of Covid-19 on the capital structure in emerging economies: evidence from India

PurposeCapital structure is an important corporate financing decision, particularly for companies in emerging economies. This paper attempts to understand whether the pandemic had any significant impact on the capital structure of companies in emerging economies. India being a prominent emerging economy is an ideal candidate for the analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes three leverage ratios in an extended market index, BSE500, for the period 2015–2021. The ratios considered are short-term leverage ratio (STLR), long-term leverage ratio (LTLR) and total leverage ratio (TLR). A dummy variable differentiates the pre-epidemic (2015–2019) and pandemic (2020–2021) period. Control variables are used to represent firm characteristics such as growth, tangibility, profit, size and liquidity. Dynamic panel data regression is employed to address endogeneity.FindingsThe findings point out that Covid-19 has had a significant, negative effect on LTLR, while the impact on STLR and TLR was insignificant. The findings indicate that companies based in a culturally risk-averse environment, such as India, would reduce the long-term debt to avoid bankruptcy in times of uncertainty.Research limitations/implicationsThe study covers the impact of the pandemic on Indian companies. Hence, generalization of the findings to global context might not be valid.Practical implicationsTo maintain economic growth in the post-crisis period, Indian policymakers should ensure accessibility to low-cost capital. The findings provide impetus to deepen the insignificant corporate bond market in India for future economic revival.Originality/valueDeveloping countries are struggling to revive the economies postpandemic. This is particularly true for Asian economies which are heavily reliant on banks for survival. This research finds evidence to utilize bond market as a source of raising capital for economic revival.

THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN IN SOUTH AFRICA

COVID-19, which is highly contagious, especially via person-to-person contact, is ravaging the world creating mayhem globally. Countries all over the world have devised various strategies to slow down the rate of spread of the COVID-19 which is not treatable presently. To curb COVID-19 spread, South Africa has been in several stages of lockdown since March 2020, restricting movement and business as usual. These lockdowns albeit imposed to keep people healthy and safe, have had tremendous negative impacts on business, especially those that require frequent movement and face-to-face contact with people. However, during lockdowns, one still needs to fend for self and family members, but without being able to work, there is no likelihood any income, even if government gives palliatives, it might not be enough to take care of critical needs of the family. Of note, a large percentage of households in South Africa are female-headed and as such, they often bear a larger burden in providing for themselves and children even prior COVID-19 outbreak not to mention during the course of the pandemic. Furthermore, many women, who are often the sole breadwinners of their households are involved in various business entrepreneurs to support themselves and their families. This paper looks at the plight of women business entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and their accessibility to the government stimulus package.

FINANCIAL SECURITIES FOR TOUR OPERATORS IN CASE OF INSOLVENCY RESULTING FROM THE DIRECTIVE 2015/2302 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL WHICH ARE IN FORCE IN POLAND

The insolvency of travel agencies is dealt with in a special way by the EU legislator. European Union law introduces legal solutions for the benefit of consumers insofar as the relevant services are not performed by organizers as a consequence of its insolvency. The current 2015/2302 Directive provides much more comprehensive protection than 90/314/EWG Directive for travelers in the event of insolvency of a tour operator. However, in the past, in the practical functioning of travel agencies, it has repeatedly turned out that the Polish legislation has not been able to guarantee full protection provided for in EU law. This situation has changed. In Poland, since August 1, 2018 the system of security and financial guarantees in the event of insolvency of organizers and traders facilitating linked travel arrangements consists of two pillars. If Pillar I funds are exhausted, the costs of actions taken by the Marshal of the Province related to the repatriation of the customers of an insolvent tour operator will be covered from Pillar II, which is created from contributions to the Tourist Guarantee Fund. Due to the COVID pandemic, another form of security was introduced in Poland from January 1,2021 - Tourist Assistance Fund. The fund is designed to support tourism entrepreneurs in the event of extraordinary circumstances. The aim of the paper is to present the legal regulations in force in Poland in the field of financial security of tour operators in the event of their insolvency and to analyze whether these solutions sufficiently protect the interests of travelers. Conclusions included in the paper justify the statement that the extension of the security system by Pillar II make the full protection possible. The two-pillar solution should be sufficient in case of insolvency of a travel agency and that it fully implements the EU recommendations.

Trends in International Arbitration: The Fallout from COVID-19

[...]of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global arbitration has adapted to a 'new normal'. Arbitration trends A number of trends are emerging with respect to life sciences disputes that are anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future, including in particular: * A greater number of disputes arising out of global supply chain disruptions, and use of the pandemic as a defence to contractual non-performance * An increase in disputes over earn-out clauses and pre-closing covenants in M&A transactions * A rise in investor-state claims brought by investors against states for breach of international investment protection agreements * More insolvent parties in arbitrations, which pose particular challenges * An increase in third-party funding of significant claims in international arbitration * The continued use of efficient procedures by arbitral tribunals, including paperless proceedings and remote hearings. Earn-out arrangements are usually intended to bridge the gap between diverging valuations of the target company by the buyer and the seller at the time of closing-in addition to the upfront purchase price, the seller of a business receives further payouts if and when the target company achieves certain agreed performance targets over an agreed period of time after closing. [...]the seller trades the certainty of a lower upfront payment for a potential higher pay-out in the future. [...]party funding of claims Third-party funding of significant claims is now a common feature in international arbitration and has become available in jurisdictions that previously were subject to regulatory restrictions.

Using the Tobin Q model to evaluate the impact of credit risks on the bank's market value during the corona pandemic

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the impact of credit risk on the market values of private banks during the corona pandemic. Design/methodology/approachThis study is identifying critical issues of credit risk at six great private banks. A conceptual framework is designed based on the Tobin Q model for investigating study hypotheses. Quantitative financial analysis methods have been used for processing data, such as financial ratios, arithmetic mean and multiple linear regression. FindingsThe most important result of this study is the lack of influence of credit risk on the market value of selected banks. Because the dimensions of credit risk have critical importance in increasing or decreasing the market value, these banks must continue to adopt quantitative financial analysis to measure credit risks to avoid their risk. Originality/valueThis study elaborates the need for financial indicators to help assess the market value of banks during the economic crises caused by the closure of commercial institutions during the corona pandemic. There is continued increase in bank credit to support these institutions, borrowers and cash withdrawals, which may affect their market reputation.

Setting up of Bad Bank – A New Era Begins

During Covid 19 pandemic, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) experience the high and increasing level of gross non performing assets. This is as high as 14 per cent which is matter of concern to all stakeholders. Consequently, these banks to witness high provisioning, low capital base and dismal credit growth. To arrest the trends in stressed assets, existing recovery channels including Insolvency Bankruptcy Code have not produced the desired results. Hence, the Government has recently taken a bold decision to set up a Bad Bank and provide the sovereign guarantee to security receipts issued by the Bad Bank upon purchase of stressed assets from PSBs. The Bad Bank aims at buying stressed assets, restructure them successfully and, thereafter, to sell the same to investors which would facilitate the PSBs to clean their balance sheet and strengthen the capital base. While there is enough business potential for the Bad Bank in the near future, its success will depend on purchase price of assets transferred, expertise in management of distressed assets, business model and presence of a conducive environment to operate. It is hoped that, during the post pandemic, the Bad Bank would prove to be the best option for revival of stressed assets and enable PSBs to lend optimally for productive purposes. Towards this end, before the Bad Bank starts functioning, there is a dire need to create awareness of the same by understanding its background, organization structure, business model and emerging challenges.

A LASSO-based model for financial distress of the Vietnamese listed firms: Does the covid-19 pandemic matter?

Financial distress is a vexing managerial challenge for businesses worldwide, especially during a turbulent period like the COVID-19 pandemic. Motivated by an increasing number of closed businesses in Vietnam during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, this study is conducted to provide a comprehensive analysis of financial distress for Vietnamese listed firms. Machine learning approaches are employed using the annual data of 492 listed firms from 2012 to 2021. Specifically, we aim to identify the appropriate distress predictors for the Vietnamese listed firms using LASSO, a technique known to be superior compared to other variable selection techniques. Empirical results reveal that there are four key financial distress predictors for the Vietnamese listed firms, namely the ratios of (i) working capital and total assets, (ii) retained earnings and total assets, (iii) earnings before interest and taxes and total assets and (iv) net income and total assets. We also conducted an industry-level analysis and found that the Energy sector experienced the highest number of financially distressed firms during Covid-19. In contrast, Communication Services, Health Care, and Utilities had the lowest number of distressed firms. Policy implications have emerged based on these important findings from our analysis.

Do ESG Risk Scores Influence Financial Distress? Evidence from a Dynamic NDEA Approach

Financial distress is a research topic in finance that has attracted attention from academia following past financial crises. Although previous studies associate financial distress with several elements, the relationship between distress and ESG has not been broadly explored. This paper investigates these issues by elaborating a Dynamic Network DEA model to address the underlying connections between accounting and financial indicators. Thus, a model that includes profit and loss, balance sheet, and capital and operating expenditures indicators is demonstrated under the dynamic network structure to compute financial-distress efficiency scores. Then, the impact of carryovers is considered for the accurate calculation of efficiency scores for the three substructures. The influence of contextual variables, such as socioeconomic and macroeconomic variables, and whether the firm owns an ESG Risk Score or not, is assessed through a stochastic non-linear model that combines three distinct regression types: Simplex, Tobit, and Beta. The results indicate that firms that hold an ESG Risk Score are less prone to be in financial distress, and Governance Score is negatively associated with financial distress efficiency.

INVESTIGATING THE OPTIMAL EXIT TIMING AND LEVERAGE DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the corporate credit policies as a means of preventing market exit in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A real options framework incorporating dynamic programming is employed to investigate the relationship between exit decisions, leverage ratio and productivity uncertainty. Our paper presents a novel approach to the exit problem in comparison to other attempts in early 2020. Taking into account the dynamics of firms, we allow for a variety of factors, such as productivity uncertainty, debt readjustment, liquidity constraints, and leverage level, to explain the optimal time for a firm to exit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results indicate that the corporate credit programs have a significant positive impact and suggests that a greater leverage ratio increases the likelihood of survival and delays the decision to exit.

Reliability Testing of the Model for Prediction of Insolvency in Crisis Conditions of Business - Covid - 19 on the Example of Trade Companies from the Republic of Srpska

The first models for assessing the insolvency of economic entities were developed more than half a century ago. However, the issue of assessing the creditworthiness of companies is still relevant today, especially in the current business conditions, at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical events in Eastern Europe. In such an extremely dynamic environment, it is very important to anticipate solvency problems in a timely manner, in order to prevent all the negative socio - economic consequences that come with the insolvency of economic entities. This is due to the fact that the company is part of the environment within which it operates and there is interdependence between the company as a legal entity and its environment, and with the disappearance of the company from the market scene there are negative circumstances for various stakeholders. Taking into account the above, the aim of this study is to test the applicability of the model for assessing the insolvency of trade companies in the Republic of Srpska in crisis business conditions. The following models were analyzed: Atlman's Z - score model, Altman's Z "- score model, Zmijewski model, Fulmer's model, Kralicek's model, BEX index and RAPO model. The following indicators were used as indicators of reliability of the analyzed models: sensitivity, specificity, type I error, type II error and the general efficiency rate of each analyzed model.The research covered 455 companies in the field of trade that are registered on the territory of the Republic of Srpska, and which submitted their financial reports to the Agency for Intermediary, Financial and Information Services of the Republic of Srpska for the period 2020-2021. The research hypothesis, which was tested in the paper, reads: Foreign existing models for assessing insolvency, which do not take into account business conditions in the Republic of Srpska, are not applicable in trade activities in Republika Srpska in crisis business conditions. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the main hypothesis in the paper was confirmed, since the highest rate of general efficiency was recorded by the RAPO model, which was developed based on financial ratios of companies from all economic areas in the Republic of Srpska, which enabled it to take into account the socio-economic business conditions of the Republic of Srpska, as well as the mutual influence of economic branches, which is a very important factor of analysis in the period of crisis.

Changes in the Perception of Business Risks to the Threat of Bankruptcy Due to COVID-19

The aim of the article is to compare the impact of selected business risks on the threat of bankruptcy of small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) before COVID-19 and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 688 SMEs from the business environment of the Slovak Republic participated in the research. Business risks, such as market, financial, personnel, operational and strategic risk were examined. Correlation and regression analysis were used to evaluate formulated hypotheses. The results yielded several significant findings. The three most important business risks before COVID-19 include market, financial and personnel risk according to entrepreneurs. Financial risk is the most significant business risk affecting the threat of bankruptcy in the SME segment in the Slovak Republic after the outbreak of COVID-19. The company's financial performance indicators and the ability of respondents to manage financial risk influence the threat of the company's bankruptcy more strongly during the pandemic. The findings are important for state organizations in mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business environment of SMEs in the Slovak Republic, as well as for entrepreneurs themselves and organizations that help SMEs. © 2022, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All right reserved.

Research agenda on turnaround strategies beyond systemic disruptions

PurposeSince the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), the shocks are getting deeper and deeper on the economy, sectors and companies. In these years, turnaround strategies have evolved and contribute to improving the agility and audacity of managers. This article studies the change in the research agenda and in the academic discourse as systemic disruptions become widespread and provides evidence on collaboration networks and publication opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a comparative bibliometric analysis to understand the changes in the academic debate as of 2008. The core collection of Web of Science (WoS) is used and 198 articles on turnaround strategies published in journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) – Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) in areas like business, management, economics and finance during 1965–2022.FindingsThis research reveals an important intertemporal evolution between periods, both in the collaborative networks of researchers and in the journals that dominate the impact discourse. In addition, it provides evidence of the change in academic discourse, through the evolution of the topics of interest after the GFC. The results suggest publication opportunities around gaps not yet closed by the academic literature.Practical implicationsThis article allows researchers to be guided in identifying gaps that have not yet been closed. In addition, this research has important managerial implications, since it guides and advises journal editors on new emerging issues.Originality/valueThis document offers a global vision on the subject of study and an understanding of the development of the discourse of the academy.

Financial Aspects of Maintaining Business Activities in the Face of Unexpected Changes

In the context of the war, the external environment is characterized by a growing level of uncertainty. Rising energy prices, the closure of airspace in Ukraine, rising inflation, a 30% decline in GDP in 2022, and the destruction of infrastructure as well as supply chains have necessitated adjustments to the company's operations and changes to its financial plan. The research aims to assess the financial aspects of doing business in the face of unexpected changes. The research methodology is based on the case study of a company that supplies energy resources to Ukraine. The main research methods used are in-depth interviews with the staff to assess the existing strategy, employee motivation system, efficiency of the organizational structure, and financial aspects of the company's activities. The results demonstrate that an important stage in the development of a financial plan in wartime is the audit of business activities. It includes an understanding of the current state of the organizational, financial, and human aspects of the company's functioning. An in-depth interview with the company's personnel shows the level of effectiveness of the interaction of all these aspects of the business. Changes in the financial system involve organizational changes: company structure, motivation system, customer interaction, and service improvement. The study shows that the interaction of organizational, financial, and motivational components contributed to the synergy of the company's resources and their mobilization in the face of the growing risks of a company's crisis. Financial planning by business segments and precision in the distribution of employees' responsibilities increases the level of motivation and involvement of staff in all business processes. Moreover, the distribution of centers and areas of responsibility should be linked to the incentives and motives of employees.

Economic Uncertainty and Firms' Capital Structure: Evidence from China

This article assesses the effects of economic uncertainty on the corporate capital structure of Chinese-listed firms using a panel dataset of 1138 firms with A-shares traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange for the period 2006–2020 and fixed-effect regression analysis. Economic uncertainty had a negative influence on Chinese firms' debt ratios, especially for non-state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, firms' leverage decreased on average during the 2008 Great Recession, whereas it increased during the 2018–2019 US–China Trade War and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The findings provide quantitative evidence of the effects of economic uncertainty on the capital structure of firms in a transition economy.

Does bank affiliation affect firm capital structure? Evidence from a financial crisis

PurposeThis study aims to assess the determinants of corporate debt with a particular focus on bank-affiliated and non-bank-affiliated firms during the global financial crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyse the data of 395 listed manufacturing firms from Pakistan with 2,370 firm-year observations. The sample is divided into subsamples, namely bank-affiliated, non-bank-affiliated and stand-alone firms. Fixed and panel effect regression models are applied to determine the during, pre-crisis and post-crisis effects on corporate capital structure.FindingsThe robust results of the study reveal that non-bank-affiliated firms have different leverage determinant behaviours with a greater reliance on size, tangibility and profitability. However, bank-affiliated firms seemed to show greater immunity from a crisis compared to other firms. Simultaneously, the stand-alone firms remained at a disadvantage subject to internal financial ties of group-affiliated firms and form a base of market imperfection.Practical implicationsThis study's findings imply that financial managers should contain better ties with financial institutions to enhance financial immunity in worse time of financial crisis or COVID-19 global calamity. On the regulation front, these findings call for critical policy regulations to govern the internal ties with financial institutions to create a level playing field for the corporate sector.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to investigate determinants of corporate debt with a particular focus on bank-affiliated and non-bank-affiliated firms. This work is also novel to explore corporate debt of bank-affiliated and non-bank-affiliated firms during the financial crisis.

Assessment of the relationship between liquidity and unprofitability of companies in preventing their bankruptcy

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a moratorium was imposed on launching bankruptcy proceedings for enterprises in Ukraine. It was canceled in 2022 because of the war to encourage the company management to improve the efficiency of liquidity and solvency management, seeking ways to increase companies' profitability and reduce the probability of bankruptcy. The study aims to determine the impact of liquidity on unprofitability, which can be considered an element in the management decision-making system to prevent bankruptcies of Ukrainian companies. The correlation-regression analysis was based on statistical data from Ukrainian companies for 2012–2019 and 2013–2020. The study found practically no connection between the unprofitability of Ukrainian companies and the decrease in the number of court cases in which a decision was made to recognize the bankruptcy of Ukrainian companies. On the other hand, there is a strong connection between Ukrainian companies' liquidity and unprofitability. The constructed regression equation is statistically reliable and characterized by a high level of adequacy to real economic processes and phenomena. An increase in the general liquidity ratio by 1% leads to an increase in the unprofitability of Ukrainian companies by 0.0346%. According to the company size construct, the most substantial connection is recorded for medium-sized companies (the correlation coefficient is 0.927, the coefficient of determination is 0.860, and the built correlation-regression equation is characterized by statistical reliability and adequacy). In contrast, large, small, and micro enterprises have a weak and moderate connection. © Rodion Poliakov, Ivan Zayukov, 2023.

The influences degree of various factors on the development of agricultural enterprises of Moldova Republic

Agriculture sector in the Republic of Moldova is the main and strategic brunch for the national economy. During the 2020-2022 years, we studied the factors influencing the development of enterprises in the horticulture sector in the Republic of Moldova. The research was carried out within the project: "Impact of macromedia and geographical factors on bankruptcy and business performance of economic entities in the agri-food sector in the Republic of Moldova", project code 20.80009.0807.26, according to contract with NARD. The study was conducted by interviewing approx. 1000 companies from agri-food (vegetal, animal, postharvest, processing, HORECA sectors etc.), inclusive approx. 800 enterprises from Horticulture brunch. As a result of the study it was established: economic factors / risks obtained an average rating of 3,94 points on the scale of 5 pt.;technical and technological factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4.1 points on the scale of 5 pt.;ecological factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4,06 points on the scale of 5 pt.;legislative-legal factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4,05 points on the scale of 5 pt.;information factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4,02 points on the scale of 5 pt.;moral factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4.04 points on the scale of 5 pt., qualification of staff factor / risk obtained an average rating of 4.08 points on the scale of 5 pt. and other factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, etc.

Measuring Evidence Affecting the Financial Stability of Airport Operations in Malaysia

The indicator of bankruptcy exposure for airport operations in Malaysia is calculated by using Altman's Z'-score. Financial and non-financial attributes related to the bankruptcy exposure show multicollinearity, and the redundant information was identified and removed. The common period for the variables is from 1999-2021, which includes the period of COVID-19 pandemic. Models with a combination of financial and non-financial attributes further reduce the deviation between the estimated standard deviation of the residuals and the marginal standard deviation of the bankruptcy risk in comparison to models without the combination. The best model provides improvements in terms of the mean of the absolute errors (MAE), mean of absolute percentage errors (MAPE), and mean absolute scaled errors (MASE). Furthermore, all determinants in the best model are statistically significant. We suggest that the opportunity for optimisation, including total movements of passenger, cargo and mail, could reduce the company's bankruptcy exposure. Findings indicate that reducing the financial leverage could improve the financial distress risk while liquidity, net operating margin, and asset turnover are positively contributed to the financial stability of the largest airport operator in Malaysia. If the marginal average of annual exposures to bankruptcy of 4.04% continues linearly into the future, the company is expected to transition from being financially stable to experiencing financial distress in 2030. © 2022 IEEE.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA - ANALYSIS FOR THE PERIOD FROM 2017-2021

Entrepreneurship is characterized by great uncertainty and great risk in business, and entrepreneurs are personally ready to take risks in their business at any moment, predict future events and adapt to constant changes and to the dynamic market. The aim of this work is to analyze business entities in the Republic of Croatia from 2017-2021. who are obliged to submit annual financial statements, in order to draw conclusions about the decline or increase in business activities during the observed period and whether revenues increased or decreased during the observed period from 2017 to 2021, whether the number of entrepreneurs increased, such as is the trend of net salaries and analysis of all other business indicators. The paper analyzes the data of companies that are obliged to submit annual financial statements to the Financial Agency. Three hypotheses are presented in the paper, H1: business entities in the observed period from 2017-2021 show a decline in all business activities and this hypothesis is accepted, H2: during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of business entities and the number of employees decreased and this hypothesis is not accepted, H3: during the COVID-19 pandemic, the profits and revenues of companies are lower and this hypothesis is accepted. The research is based on up-to-date and accurate data from info.Biz, the e-service of the Financial Agency. Info.Biz collects accurate and up-to-date data from the financial reports of business entities, which business entities in the Republic of Croatia are obliged to submit to the Financial Agency every business year, according to the Accounting Act. On the basis of data from the info.Biz e-service, numerous conclusions can be drawn about economic indicators and business operations in the Republic of Croatia. Business entities obliged to submit annual financial reports in 2020 record a decline in all business activities and business results, while in 2021 they show a trend of growth in business indicators.

Implications of the UN Common Agenda for Australia: Renewing Multilateralism

In flagrant violation of international law, Russia has invaded Ukraine. It invokes a right to intervene on humanitarian and security grounds despite the necessary pre-conditions, including UN Security Council endorsement, being absent. In Myanmar, the February Citation2021 military coup has ushered in a new era of serious repression of citizens, violent conflict and human rights violations. ASEAN's 2021 five-point consensus to end the violence and promote conciliation has been largely ignored. These are but two of a number of current global threats which defy unilateral resolution and demand multilateral responses. Others are the looming disasters provoked by climate change;the ongoing Covid pandemic;conflict and the threat of conflict from Syria and Yemen to the South China Sea;the return of repressive Taliban rule in Afghanistan;ferocious civil war in Ethiopia;historically high refugee displacement;and mass migratory movements.At a time when ‘the only certainty is more uncertainty', countries must unite to forge a new, more hopeful and equal path, UN Secretary-General António Guterres (SG) told the General Assembly on 21 January 2022. In laying out his priorities for 2022, he observed, "We face a five-alarm global fire that requires the full mobilisation of all countries”, – the raging COVID-19 pandemic, a morally bankrupt global financial system, the climate crisis, lawlessness in cyberspace, and diminished peace and security. He stressed that countries must go into emergency mode.