The World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund spring meetings kick off on Tuesday, once again filling the bank’s Washington, D.C., headquarters with development professionals, policymakers, economists, advocates and a slew of other influential leaders seeking to shape the future of global development.
This year’s agenda promises high profile discussions on a range of pressing development challenges, in addition to critical sideline conversations and behind-the-scenes talks.
Here is a preview of the buzz around topics likely to see discussion — both on stage and in the sideline corridors — in the coming days:
Climate change
The spring meetings come four months after the Paris climate change conference, where world leaders agreed to lower global warming to “well below 2 degrees Celsius.” The gathering of many world leaders in Washington, D.C., this week will be an opportunity to keep the momentum going and push towards concrete action plans to achieve the Paris goals.
Last week, the World Bank unveiled its Climate Change Action Plan, designed to help countries deliver on their national climate agendas. And on Thursday, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will be part of a high level panel with other global leaders to discuss actions required to achieve the goals laid out in the Paris conference.
As part of the bank’s new action plan, the IFC set a goal to expand its climate investments from $2.2 billion a year to $3.5 billion a year. The IFC also intends to leverage an additional $13 billion a year in private sector financing by 2020. The World Bank aims to contribute $25 billion in commercial financing for clean energy over the next five years and quadruple funding for transportation systems resilient to climate change. It will also invest at least $1 billion in energy efficiency and resilience.
Additionally, on Friday, there will be a high-level assembly of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition — a group of government, private sector and civil society leaders committed to carbon pricing. Friday’s gathering will be a chance for the coalition to discuss “specific activities that will advance the carbon pricing agenda,” John Roome, senior director for climate change at the World Bank told reporters last week.
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