国际金融论坛华盛顿会议举行

THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL FORUM WASHINGTON MEETING WAS HELD

The International Financial Forum (IFF) joined forces with the Bretton Woods Institutions Commission (BWC) and the Paulson Foundation on April 10, Washington time, to strengthen countries' focus on investment and financing to enhance economic resilience and sustainability. A high-level workshop was held 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. Participants had in-depth discussions on how to use the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), a new investment and financing tool, to provide low - and middle-income countries with long-term low interest loans and help them build resilience to structural challenges such as climate change.

In her speech, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, "If we do not respond effectively to the challenge of climate change and strengthen economic resilience, 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."

Over the past three years, the world economy has experienced a series of major shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and 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 a 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.

Climate change is not a "Wolf at the door" story, but an existential crisis for the future of all mankind, said Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. A more efficient allocation of public and private resources will only be possible if we truly treat climate change as an existential crisis.

IMF Deputy Managing Director Lee Bo said IMF members agreed that tackling climate change is one of the most important challenges countries 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 that addressing climate change requires both short-term effective measures taken by governments and long-term sustained investment by all parties. All kinds of resources should be invested in strengthening climate adaptation and reducing climate impacts. He believes that the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) will be very important in providing long-term financial support for developing countries to deal with climate change.

Lin Jianhai, Vice President and Director of the Global Center of the International Financial Forum (IFF), said that to deal with climate change and adopt adaptation measures, countries need to take 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.