We were pleased to read that Mark Malloch-Brown is inviting ideas on how the World Bank and IMF should change, 80 years on from their founding (Opinion, October 1).
There is an urgent need for reform, to meet the growing challenges of accelerating climate change, deepening inequality and debt distress. Reviews can be glacial and undermine existing reform processes. We must not let this happen but rather must add energy, speed and scale to what’s under way. We need to move from incremental change to rapid action to unlock the trillions more in financing needed by 2030.
Over the next 10 weeks there are a number of opportunities for leaders to make good on their professions of political will. At the World Bank and IMF annual meetings in October, the G20 and COP29 in November, and the International Development Association (IDA) replenishment in December, they could and should agree to the following steps:
IDA, the World Bank’s concessional fund for the poorest countries, must be replenished to a level commensurate with historically high needs, namely a real terms increase on the last replenishment — and ideally to an amount of $120bn.
The multilateral development banks must follow the recommendations of the G20-commissioned capital adequacy framework review and adjust their risk measures to unlock hundreds of billions more in low-cost lending.
They must also review the G20’s “common framework for debt treatments” to better help heavily indebted countries. In addition, we need to see an end to all direct and indirect finance for fossil fuels and a shift in focus to sustainable renewables. The IMF should issue $650bn in new special drawing rights, its reserve currency, to help heavily indebted countries cope with climate impacts, and finally start the process of reforming IMF quotas in favour of low-income countries while removing IMF surcharges.
These are just some of the changes needed to make the Bretton Woods institutions more genuinely representative, inclusive and effective in the current age. We’re delighted to be invited to be part of this conversation. But Malloch-Brown and the political leaders and major shareholders at the multilateral development banks must hear what leaders from the global south are saying — and act on it.
Hannah Ryder
CEO, Development Reimagined, Nairobi, Kenya
David McNair
Executive Director for Global Policy and Strategy, The ONE Campaign, Dubln, Ireland
Luca Bergamaschi
Co-Founder ECCO, Rome, Italy
Jane Burston
CEO, Clean Air Fund, London, UK
Christoph Bals
Policy Director, Germanwatch, Bonn, Germany
Jamie Drummond
Founder, Sharing Strategies, London, UK
Jean McLean
Convenor, Green Economy Coalition, London, UK
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