国际金融论坛华盛顿会议在IMF和世行春季会议期间举行

THE WASHINGTON MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL FORUM TAKES PLACE ON THE SIDELINES OF THE SPRING MEETINGS OF THE IMF AND WORLD BANK

To increase global focus on investment and financing to enhance economic resilience and sustainability, the International Financial Forum (IFF), in collaboration with the Bretton Woods Institutions Committee (BWC) and the Paulson Foundation, hosted a high-level workshop on April 10, Washington time, during the 2023 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

As the first official session of the 2023 Spring Meetings of IMF and World Bank, this seminar attracted the attention and participation of more than 200 government officials, senior executives of international institutions, experts and scholars from around the world.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva opened the seminar. John Lipsky, Deputy Chairman of the Bretton Woods System Committee (BWC) and former First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, chaired the seminar. Jin Liqun, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Lee Bo, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF; Huzier Ndajigimana, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda; Dai Qingli, Vice Chairman and President of the Paulson Foundation; Vera Songwe, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and Rock, an international investment institution Kenneth Ray, Executive Director of Creek, and other professionals from governments and international institutions participated in the workshop and had in-depth discussions on how to use the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), a new investment and financing vehicle, to provide low - and middle-income countries with long-term low interest loans to help them build resilient resilience to structural challenges such as climate change.

In her address, Ms Georgieva said: "If we do not respond effectively to the challenge of climate change and strengthen economic resilience, all previous economic achievements will be lost. Inflation is a pain, but we can live. The recession is bad, and there is still a chance of recovery, but if we fail to tackle climate change, the consequences will be catastrophic. We must work together to tackle the climate crisis for the survival of future generations."

She also said the IMF's newly launched RST will provide long-term financial support for developing and emerging economies to enhance their economic resilience and effectively address climate change.

In the past three years, the world economy has experienced a series of major shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and global inflation. At the same time, the global threat of climate change has never stopped, posing a major long-term challenge to mankind. Making the global economy more resilient to climate change and more sustainable is an urgent priority for governments around the world. It also requires the full support and participation of the public and private sectors of all countries and various international organizations.

Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), pointed out in his speech, "Climate change is not a story of 'crying Wolf', but an existential crisis concerning the future of all mankind. A more efficient allocation of public and private resources will only be possible if we truly treat climate change as an existential crisis."

Lee Bo, deputy managing director of the IMF, said the more than 190 IMF members agreed that tackling climate change is one of the most important challenges they will face in the future. It is good news that IMF members have come together to launch the RST to help emerging economies and developing countries meet the challenge of climate change. But, on the other hand, dealing with climate change requires a lot of money. The Energy transition alone will require a trillion dollars of global funding, and it will require close international cooperation.

Qingli Dai, president of the Paulson Foundation, analyzed the importance of tackling climate change from the perspective of protecting the Earth's biodiversity. There are now 70 percent fewer large vertebrates globally than there were in the 1970s, and 90 percent of large predatory fish have gone extinct because of changing climate conditions, she said. The decline or even extinction of these animals is not only a loss to the natural world, but also a food crisis in many parts of the world, one of the profound effects of climate change.

Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Uziel Ndajigimana, said the world faces multiple challenges, from the pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and governments cannot afford to focus on some specific issues while ignoring others with long-term implications. Addressing climate change requires both short-term and effective measures by governments and long-term and sustained investment by all parties to strengthen climate adaptation and reduce climate impacts. He believes that the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), a new financial instrument launched by IMF, will provide long-term financial support for developing countries to cope with climate change, which is of great significance.

Vera Songwe, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is a former United Nations under-Secretary-General and director for Africa. She believes the Resilience and Sustainability Trust promoted by the IMF will play as important a role in tackling climate change as the Special Drawing Rights.

Kenneth Ray, managing director of Rock Creek, an international investment agency, shares his views on how to leverage the private sector to participate in the global climate change response.

Lin Jianhai, vice president and director of the Global Center at the International Financial Forum (IFF), said climate change is an evolving crisis. To address climate change and adopt adaptation measures, countries need to adopt various short-term measures as well as long-term sustainable investment. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously raise the awareness of the importance of tackling climate change among all countries and social strata. It is also necessary to integrate the resources of the state and private enterprises and strengthen the cooperation of various international organizations to jointly tackle climate change.