Climate challenges require radical reform of MDBs - The Banker
Climate challenges require radical reform of MDBs - The Banker
As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund hold their annual meetings in Marrakech this week, the role of multilateral development banks (MDBs) is coming under increasing scrutiny. US treasury secretary Janet Yellen is set to give a speech on how to increase such lenders’ effectiveness and impact on Tuesday, October 10.
The strengthening of the mandate of MDBs such as the World Bank has been one of the key priorities for India’s presidency of the G20, set to expire at the end of November. India has warned that in their task of supporting economic and social progress in developing countries, MDBs have not sufficiently scaled up investments to meet contemporary development and sustainability challenges.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”