By Okeoghene Akubuike
The World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deepen cooperation to help countries scale up action to confront the threat of climate change.
This is according to a statement by the IMF, a copy obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.
The statement said the collaboration would provide critical support for countries’ climate strategies through an integrated, country-led approach to policy reforms and climate investments.
It said within their respective mandates, the WBG and the IMF would leverage their analytics, technical assistance, financing, and policy expertise to enhance country-driven reform programmes.
The statement said three principles would underpin the framework.
“First, countries, The WBG and the IMF will work together closely to identify each country’s climate challenges and the priority policy reforms needed to address them.
“This process will be informed by the WBG’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs), the IMF’s climate-related analytics, and countries’ own climate ambitions.
“Second, the WBG and the IMF will work with other Multilateral Development Banks and development partners to help countries implement the reforms through technical assistance and financing.
“Third, upon request, the WBG and the IMF will help establish country-led platforms designed to mobilise additional climate finance, including from the private sector.”
The statement said the enhanced framework will build on lessons learned since the release of the institutions’ Joint Statement on Enhancing IMF-World Bank Collaboration in September 2023.
“This enhanced cooperation between the two institutions will foster country-driven partnerships, galvanise policy changes, and scale up investments to meet countries’ climate needs.
“The joint effort will also optimise the increased resources the institutions are dedicating to climate action and crowd in additional resources from development partners and the private sector.”
The statement said the WBG was ramping up its climate action with new measures.
It said the measures included devoting 45 per cent of its annual financing to climate change adaptation and mitigation by 2025 and working to bring renewable power to 250 million people in Africa by 2030.
“Another measure is expanding its crisis toolkit to support people on the front lines of the climate crisis.
“The institution has also optimised its balance sheet and is raising funds for a robust IDA21 replenishment and a new Livable Planet Fund.’’
The statement said the IMF was helping countries build resilience to climate change with support from its Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), which is funded by generous contributions from 23 countries.
“Since it became operational in October 2022, 18 countries have already benefited from the RST.
“The enhanced WBG-IMF collaboration framework is expected to further raise the impact of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) channelled through the RST.” (NAN)
