Transforming the Financial System for Climate and Development: Moving the Needle at COP28

It has been one year since the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt concluded with a call for "a transformation of the financial system and its structures and processes" and a reform of multilateral development banks (MDBs) to be "fit for the purpose of adequately addressing the global climate emergency."

Reflective of Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s Bridgetown Agenda, international financial architecture reform has gained significant traction in the past year. At the UN mid-year climate conference in Bonn, developing countries refused to adopt an agenda that singled out mitigation ambition without also spotlighting financial support ambition. Then, the Summit for a Global Financing Pact in June and the Africa Climate Summit in September broke siloes, bringing together experts from the development finance and climate communities to discuss the climate financing gap. At the recent 2023 International Monetary Fund/World Bank Group Annual Meetings, the need for systemic reforms was again echoed, while the Group of 20 (G20) has advanced discussions on resolving the debt crisis and strengthening MDBs.

As COP28 approaches, though, questions remain: what progress has been made on reforming the international financial architecture to facilitate climate ambition and development in Global South countries? How can inclusive, climate resilient and development-centered reforms be advanced at COP28? What concrete commitments from global leaders at COP28 are needed to create a fit-for-purpose financial system?

On November 21 from 09:00 AM EST/07:30 PM IST, join the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE India) and the Boston University Global Development Policy Center for a webinar discussion on transforming the global financial system and what world leaders should look to accomplish at COP28.

Speakers:

- Rakesh Mohan - President Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress

- Sunita Narain, Director-General, Centre for Science and Environment

- Vera Songwe, Founder and Chair of Liquidity and Sustainability Facility

- Kevin P. Gallagher, Director, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Sebastien Treyer, Executive Director, Institut du Developpement Durable et des Relations Internationales

- Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, Assistant Director, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Avantika Goswami, Programme Manager, Climate Change, Centre for Science and Environment