India, June 30 -- In one of the most consequential outcomes of this year's Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC), the South North Commission on Development was formally launched on the gathering's second day. Co-chaired by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla, the body's mission is to rewrite how the world understands cooperation between the Global South and North.

The independent commission will bring together up to 20 commissioners, drawn from politics, business, labour, academia, international organisations and civil society - with a majority from the Global South - and will treat development finance, climate, debt, trade and conflict as interconnected challenges rather than separa...