Debt and Climate: Addressing Overlapping Crises

Speakers:Marcos Chamon (IMF), Richard Kozul-Wright (UNCTAD), Carola Mejía (Latindadd), Lara Merling (GDPC), Ulrich Volz (SOAS)

The looming debt and climate crises are closely intertwined. Rising temperatures and extreme floods, droughts and hurricanes worsen debt burdens, while debt service diverts public resources from urgent adaptation and mitigation needs and can lock countries into fossil fuel extraction. What is more, the majority of available climate finance comes in the form of additional debt.

As countries seek to decarbonise and stay below the 2 degrees Celsius threshold of global warming, how can the International Monetary Fund (IMF) help countries navigate the debt-climate nexus as it works to incorporate climate into its operations? What options are there for comprehensive debt restructuring, and how can it be linked to climate goals? What innovative solutions are there for climate finance, and what role can Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) play in supporting climate investment?

As a part of the IMF/World Bank 2022 Annual Meetings Civil Society Policy Forum, a panel sponsored by the Boston University Global Development Center seeks to understand the cycle between debt and climate, as well as discuss proposals for resource mobilisation, debt relief and expanding debt sustainability frameworks to create space for financing nationally determined climate goals. Join experts from the IMF, civil society and academia for a conversation on how to address the overlapping debt and climate crises. The event is open to all Annual Meetings attendees.