New Delhi : The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has added climate change to one of its top priorities, considering it a systemic risk for the stability of the global economy and financial system.
The fund’s lending tools have been expanded to include the Resilience and Sustainability Trust and started five pilot programs (in Costa Rica, Barbados, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Jamaica).
Periodic transition management reviews are underway, and climate is now included in the main flagship reports.
As the IMF moves from setting targets to implementation, it will need to consider how tackling the climate crisis may run counter to its usual ‘crisis response mode’.
Previous IMF interventions may have reduced a country’s ability to invest in transition. Now, the IMF’s response to, or management of, an economic crisis must also consider solutions that are not building the fragilities of the future.