The new doctoral program EQUALFIN investigates how the global financial system exacerbates social, economic, and ecological inequalities. It examines the monetary dimension of sustainability

Dr. Fritz, the impact of the global financial system on inequality is a new but highly relevant field of research. How did the EQUALFIN doctoral program come to be founded, and what makes it unique?

Barbara Fritz: The doctoral program “Finance and Inequality in Times of Polycrisis,” or EQUALFIN for short, emerged from a gap in the research landscape: Inequality research has so far neglected monetary dimensions such as global financial flows, currencies, or debt, even though these are often the bottlenecks. To close this gap, Freie Universität Berlin and HTW Berlin launched EQUALFIN in 2025. Funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, up to twelve fellows here investigate the extent to which the global financial system contributes to the exacerbation of current social, economic, and ecological inequalities.

What sets our approach apart is its methodological openness and strong emphasis on qualitative approaches. We rely on agile structures: Instead of a rigid curriculum, in addition to the colloquium, we offer tailored interdisciplinary workshops for doctoral students and intensive exchange sessions with experts.

Ms. Schiefeling, your dissertation focuses on climate policy in an unequal world and the potential of international monetary cooperation. What is this all about?

Marla Schiefling: Currently, countries in the Global South are hoarding foreign exchange reserves to stabilize their weak currencies and avert crises caused by capital flight. However, because these reserves remain unused, there is a lack of funds to finance imports, both for urgent structural reforms and for climate protection measures. The microeconomic level is often not fully considered from a macroeconomic perspective. Yet this is precisely where great potential lies; a fundamental systemic shift could lay the groundwork for a green transformation. International cooperative approaches offer possible solutions. These include regional agreements through which countries pool their foreign exchange reserves and use this collective strength to defend against currency fluctuations.

In public discourse, climate protection, social justice, and economic stability are often pitted against one another. What is your assessment of this?

Barbara Fritz: Climate and environmental issues are quite clearly always also issues of distribution. But that does not mean that climate issues must or should be put on the back burner for the sake of social justice. On the contrary, these three cornerstones must always be considered together.

Marla Schiefling: Upon closer examination, even supposed conflicts of interest between these levels can be resolved and synergies found. Take the example of renewable energy. It can simultaneously ensure economic independence and contribute to affordable electricity and heating supplies as well as climate protection.

Issues of distribution are also being discussed more intensely with regard to the occurrence of rare earths in countries of the Global South. Mr. Krippendorf, could you tell us more, also in light of your own dissertation on the topic of funding for the green transformation in the context of development work?

Marlon Krippendorf: Until now, German development cooperation has primarily been presented as driven by altruistic motives, although geostrategic interests have, of course, always played a role here as well. Against the backdrop of radical changes in U.S. foreign policy, a paradigm shift is also taking place in Germany. Today, there is an open debate on how to combine both altruistic and self-interested goals in development cooperation, albeit with significantly tighter budgets. There is now increased discussion of so-called mutual-interest development cooperation. Ideally, development aid would thus yield benefits not only for recipient countries but also for the donor country, for example in the form of improved trade relations or access to key raw materials. Whether this can work is an important area for academic research.

Barbara Fritz: German and European actors would be well advised to strengthen the position of mutual interest in order to continue playing a role in the future, for example regarding access to raw materials. In the area of partnership-based cooperation, German development cooperation has a long tradition, is known for it, and has the necessary networks..

The interview was conducted by Judith Hübner, Katrin Schweigel, and Andreas Wanke.
It first appeared in Freie Universität Berlin’s 2026 Sustainability Report.