The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report underscored the need to reach net-zero emissions globally by mid-century to preserve a credible pathway to limit warming to 1.5C, with 135 countries have pledged carbon neutrality thus far. However, net-zero growth trajectories will entail a fundamental shift in the composition of the global economy, especially […]
The need to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic has given developing countries the opportunity to embark on an energy transition that supports green growth while rebuilding and reenergizing their economies. However, the divergent paces of economic recovery between advanced economies and developing countries are creating a challenging macroeconomic situation. In particular, interest rate hikes may […]
By Amanda Brown As many multilateral development banks (MDBs) seek to align their financing with the Paris climate agreement and move away from fossil fuels, there is a question of whether China’s policy banks would move to fill a gap in fossil fuel financing left by MDBs, as they had with coal. This concern is […]
By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary It’s ‘now or never’ to keep global warming below 1.5°C, but achieving this target requires a substantial coordinated effort to increase the scale and pace of efforts to transition away from fossil fuels. A key part of this transition is putting an end to financing of new fossil fuel projects around […]
With the recent end of public finance for coal power, many multilateral development banks (MDBs) are working to move financing activity away from other fossil fuels, including natural gas. But in the past, as MDBs moved away from certain types of energy projects, China emerged as the largest public financier and, in some cases, the […]
In 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a historic allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to $650 billion. These supplementary international reserve assets were allocated to help meet the liquidity bottlenecks facing many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because of the IMF’s quota-based decision-making structure, SDRs primarily flowed to more advanced […]
By Rishikesh Ram Bhandary and Katie Gallogly-Swan While the outcome of COP26 was far from meeting shared climate goals, there are abundant opportunities to drive change and advance development and climate goals in the coming year. Governments, development finance institutions and civil society must use the achievements in Glasgow as a launch pad for concrete […]
China’s overseas development finance has funneled nearly half a trillion dollars to developing countries since 2008. This stepwise increase in available development finance has the potential to make a much-needed dent in the infrastructure gaps developing countries face, estimated at more than $3 trillion per year. Given the impressive scale of this new source of […]
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 […]
In a recent study, Rebecca Ray examined multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the power distribution of the countries that borrow from them. Access the full Appendix below to review supplementary materials.