Panel discussion at the margins of the IMF/World Bank 2023 Spring Meetings
Thursday 13. April 2023, 9:30-11:00 EST (UTC-4), hybrid format
Climate-fueled risks have driven up the cost of capital and debt to unsustainable levels, especially across climate vulnerable economies, worsening already dire financial protection gaps. As disasters strike, countries are forced to borrow to replace bridges, homes or jobs that were lost. V20 countries have lost over half a trillion US dollars in the last two decades due to climate change and over the period of 2022-2029, and total debt service payment for V20 countries will be over half a trillion. The losses are exacerbated by vulnerability while the financing options are shrinking. In 2023, reform of the financial architecture will be critical in determining the access and options for countries as climate chaos unfolds. A key opportunity to avert climate chaos includes the delivery of the V20-initiated Accra-Marrakech agenda. Part of this reform is improving the climate and disaster risk financing architecture to better protect people and communities without increasing debt instability. This session discusses initiatives addressing these intertwined crises and explores the role civil society actors can play to support this transformation.
Session objectives:
- Discuss the interconnectedness of debt and climate crisis;
- Discuss global financial system reform and initiatives addressing these crises; and
- Discuss the role civil society can play to further the reform of the Global Financial System.
Speakers:
- Red Constantino (Moderator) – Deputy Chair, CVF Expert Advisory Group
- Sara Jane Ahmed – Founder, Financial Futures Centre (FFC)
- Kairos dela Cruz – Executive Director, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC)
- Kevin P. Gallagher – Director, Boston University Global Development Policy Center and Member of Task Force on Climate, Development and the IMF
- Jwala Rambarran – Policy Advisor, The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC)
- Vositha Wijenayake – Executive Director, SLYCAN Trust
In case of questions, please contact:
- Magdalena Mirwald, MCII Project Associate Multi-Actor Partnerships on CDRFI (MAPs), M.Mirwald@ehs.unu.edu
- Alexandra Mieth, MCII Associate Project Manager, V20 Policy Support & MCII Contribution to the SIF and InsuResilience Global Partnership, mieth@ehs.unu.edu
About the Organizers:
The Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center is a policy-oriented research center working to advance financial stability, human well-being and environmental sustainability across the globe. The GDP Center is comprised of three research initiatives: the Global Economic Governance Initiative, which seeks to align global economic governance with development and climate ambitions; the Global China Initiative, which examines China’s overseas economic activity and engagement, and the Human Capital Initiative, which advances interdisciplinary research on the role of human capital in human development.
The Financial Futures Center (FFC) aims to provide financial and economic analytical support to vulnerable country governments and stakeholders including through coordinating the technical engagement with government officials and developing country economists especially to enable and strengthen finance and economic planning voices from developing countries calling for an energy and climate-resilient transition to modernize economies. The Financial Futures Center supports the financial and economic aspects of the Climate Prosperity Plan agenda of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and Vulnerable Group of Twenty (V20) Ministers of Finance.
ICSC is an international non-government group advancing fair climate policy and low carbon, climate-resilient development. Based in the Philippines, it is engaged with the wider international climate and energy policy arena, particularly in Asia. It is recognized for its role in helping advance effective global climate action and the Paris climate agreement.
CPDC is an umbrella body for Caribbean non-governmental organizations with the overall aim to build civil society organizations partnerships through engagement with people, governments and other key stakeholders, to influence the design and implementation of policies that empower and improve the lives of Caribbean people. CPDC focuses on four thematic areas which include Sustainable Development (including Climate Change), Good Governance, Trade and Economic Development and Capacity Building for the Caribbean NGO sector. CPDC is headquartered in Barbados.
SLYCAN Trust is a non-profit think tank working on climate change, sustainable development, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, animal welfare, and social justice including gender and youth empowerment. SLYCAN Trusts work spans the national, regional, and global level from policy analysis and evidence-based research to on-the-ground implementation. SLYCAN Trust is headquartered in Sri Lanka.
(Lead Organizer)
MCII was initiated as a non-profit organization by representatives of insurers, research institutes, and NGOs in April 2005 in response to the growing realization that insurance solutions can play a role in adaptation to climate change, as suggested in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. This initiative is hosted at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). As a leading think tank on climate change and insurance, MCII is focused on developing solutions for the risks posed by climate change for low-income and vulnerable people in the Global South.