Author: Samantha Igo

Accelerating Climate Action through National Climate Funds

While leaders at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) place special emphasis on increasing ambition and closing the climate finance delivery gap, another vital consideration should be on how exactly that finance will be delivered. Since 2009 when the initial $100 billion climate finance commitment was made, the international landscape has shifted significantly, […]

Closing the Gap: The Role of National Climate Funds in Meeting Global Climate Finance Goals

By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary In 2009, developed countries committed to mobilizing $100 billion in climate finance to developing countries every year by 2020. Eleven years later, however, developed countries have not yet met this commitment, and political attention has been solely focused on how countries can bridge the remaining gap of roughly $20 billion. While […]

Experts React – G20 Calls for a Resilience and Sustainability Trust at the IMF

In August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) allocated $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the international reserve asset of the IMF, to support liquidity and foster global economic resilience in the wake of COVID-19. To further these recovery efforts, a Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) was proposed, in part as a means of re-channeling […]

How the IMF Can Help Facilitate Green, Just Transitions Around the World

By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary In July of 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a draft of its climate change strategy, a substantial step towards incorporating and preparing for the inevitable impacts of climate change. As the Fund bears the mandate to safeguard the international monetary and financial system, it has a central role to […]

Re-channeling Special Drawing Rights for a Climate Resilient and Just Transition: Prospects for a Resilience and Sustainability Trust

In a historic breakthrough for the multilateral system, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the global allocation of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)—the international reserve asset issued by the IMF—to support liquidity and foster the resilience of the global economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While unprecedented in its scope, this […]

Toward Development-Centered Climate Change Policy at the International Monetary Fund

Climate change and policy responses to address climate change pose significant risks to financial and fiscal stability, poverty and inequality, and the long-run growth prospects of the world economy. In the midst of a global pandemic, 2021 has already been marked by a slew of extreme weather events, wreaking havoc on countries and economies across […]

Who Controls Multilateral Development Finance?

The 21st century has seen a surge in interest in development banking, characterized by waves of capital increases in existing banks and the creation of two new regional development banks (RDBs): the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and New Development Bank (NDB). Scholars have noted these banks’ creation was motivated in part by a perceived […]