Climate-hit island pushes to reshape World Bank, IMF

Experts say developing nations are struggling to find the funds needed to stop burning planet-heating fossil fuels and prepare for tomorrow's climate disasters, as they grapple with rising costs, soaring debts and extreme weather events.

While the proposals are still being debated, they have gained traction among the large economies that hold sway over the World Bank and IMF, raising hopes of action in the coming months.AFP | Brendan Smialowski Reform plans are gaining momentum because they fill a"policy vacuum" over funding for the global climate response, said Avinash Persaud, the economist running the Barbados campaign with"one and a half people and a spreadsheet".United Nations climate science experts have said time is running out to invest in the changes needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial temperatures.

In Pakistan, for example, the economy was already struggling after years of political upheaval, but a global energy price surge and catastrophic floods last year have pushed it to the brink. The World Bank says it delivered a record $31.7 billion last year to help countries tackle climate change and has started to draft a roadmap for change.

It also calls for multilateral development banks to significantly increase their lending, while stressing that debt arrangements should include, as Barbados has, disaster clauses allowing a country to pause repayments for two years after an extreme event.

Energy Energy Latest News, Energy Energy Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Green Industrial Age Can Be Sustainable Development BreakthroughThe United Nations has called for a "sustainable industrial transformation" to close the widening development gap between countries, meet ambitious climate targets, and reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. According to the World Bank 2023 report titled Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing Sustainable Transformations, growth across Sub-Saharan Africa remains sluggish. The report blames the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, and debt payments up to two times higher than in 2019, as having put massive fiscal pressures on most developing countries, limiting the ability to fund transformation. Debt distress risks remain high with 22 countries in the region at high risk of external debt distress or in debt distress as of December 2022. The report suggests that "urgent, massive investment" is needed to accelerate a positive transformation of the electricity supply industry, farming, transportation, and construction. The UN suggests that launching critical transformations in energy, food and education to usher in a new green industrial and digital age will quicken the pace and leave no one behind.
Source: allafrica - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »