Recent Posts
Concessional Climate Finance: Is the MDB Architecture Working?
March 14, 2023Our paper evaluates the climate financial intermediary funds (FIFs) which are one of the largest sources of multilateral grant and concessional finance for climate, especially for middle-income countries. Donors have contributed more than $50 billion to these funds. The World Bank acts as a trustee for twelve climate FIFs. In this paper, we focus on the three largest: the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Climate Investment Funds (CIF), and Green Climate Fund (GCF). Our findings reveal significant challenges at the systemic level and differing performance across FIFs. FIF funding is not allocated [...]
Funding Hybrid Capital at the AfDB is the Best Deal for SDR Donors
March 9, 2023Many advanced-economy countries are looking for ways to recycle their excess Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to support more vulnerable countries whose economies are being buffeted by the economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The G20 has pledged $100 billion of SDR recycling—much of that is going to the IMF, but about $40 billion has yet to find a destination. A new proposal by the African Development Bank (AfDB) gives donors an excellent opportunity to recycle their SDRs, potentially having a much more significant impact [...]
Yes, MDB Shareholders Can Act Now: Six Very Feasible Near-Term Decisions
March 1, 2023Spurred by the polycrisis and explicit calls from shareholders and other stakeholders, multilateral development banks (MDBs) are considering reforms that will give them the capacity to address country and global challenges, as Secretary Yellen recently put it, “with the urgency and scale that is required.” The World Bank is in the most visible position as it works on its evolution roadmap. But change is needed across the MDB system to enable these institutions to play a more effective and a much bigger role in helping the world meet these challenges. [...]
Do Clients Want the World Bank to Focus on Climate?
February 23, 2023Last month, the World Bank released an “evolution roadmap” proposing to do more on climate change in low- and middle-income countries. It is a global challenge that will have a disproportionate impact on the world’s poorest countries. But it is also important to listen to the Bank’s clients, especially in poorer countries. And it would be an act of hypocrisy and desertion if the institution turned its back on them to refocus on a problem that they did little to create. People in developing countries are concerned about climate change. [...]