IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced on Monday that 44 nations have expressed interest in joining the 40 billion US dollar Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Through financial assistance and the promotion of sustainable economic policies in response to systemic threats like climate change, the institution established a year ago seeks to strengthen the resilience of low-income and vulnerable middle-income nations.
Georgieva stated this at an event on Monday afternoon to kick off the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings week. The event was held to highlight the urgent need for global cooperation in mobilizing trillions of dollars in investment to put the world on a net-zero emissions trajectory.
The event, on the theme of Scaling Up Resilience and Sustainability Financing, was co-organized by the Bretton Woods Committee, the International Finance Forum (IFF), and the Paulson Institute.
Rwanda, Barbados, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, and Jamaica have reached agreements on loan programs from the facility, according to Georgieva.
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“So 40 billion (U.S. dollars) is not a solution on its own, but it is a contribution to a solution if it helps remove barriers for massively scaling investment, especially private investment in emerging markets and economies,” said Georgieva.
“But we also have much more to do … Addressing this challenge requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach based on three interrelated elements: adequate policies, investment and innovation, and financing,” she said.
Collaboration between multilateral institutions, national authorities, and the private sector will be essential to turn climate challenges into opportunities, said Li Bo, IMF’s deputy managing director, in the panel discussion.
“For renewable energy alone, we need 1 trillion U.S. dollars a year,” Li said.
Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, stressed the need to further enhance the awareness of the general public about the climate crisis.
“Because unless you do believe this is going to be a crisis looming large on the horizon, it is not possible to mobilize sufficient resources for that purpose,” said Jin.
Story adapted from Xinhua
