Over the last three years, the world has lived through a series of major shocks: the COVID pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising inflation and the ensuing cost-of-living crisis. In addition, the existential climate crisis continues unabated and remains as a major long-term challenge. The priority for all nations--and for the world as a whole--is to strengthen our resilience and sustainability in the face of these ongoing and future shocks. It is an effort that demands the full commitment of the public and private sectors as well as international organizations. To help enhance the focus on this issue, a high-level seminar is proposed during the IMF/WB Spring Meetings. The seminar would bring together major practitioners and influencers to offer their perspectives on some of the key questions.
- How can climate considerations be embedded even more in public investment decisions?
- How can private participation and financing be leveraged even more to help make economies more sustainable?
- How can international organizations work even more effectively together to support greater resilience and sustainability for their member countries?
A special feature of the discussion is expected to be how the IMF's new lending facility—the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST)—can be further supported to provide long-term affordable financing for low- and middle-income countries in building resilience to structural challenges such as climate change.