Future growth must be greener growth - but the transition to a new economy must be just and the global community needs to transform the scale of finance available to make the leap. Shareholders, clients, and partners want Multilateral Financial Institutions to do more for global public goods, notably climate change, which is one of the defining challenges of our time. Roughly US$2.5 trillion of additional financing is needed every year until 2030 to both reach the Paris climate goals and achieve the SDG’s. Both the World Bank and IMF have responded. Last year saw the World Bank Group surge a record $31.7 billion in financing to help countries address climate change and it is currently in a consultative process to an Evolutionary Roadmap to better address the scale of development challenges, including climate change, while the IMF signed its first country deals for the new Resilience and Sustainability Trust. Now, as we look ahead to COP28, a critical milestone for mobilising new green finance, what do we know about the opportunities and challenges on the route to net zero, and what are the options for reform, locally, regionally and globally?

As the world is still coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that to reinforce the global framework for preparedness, there is a need to increase funding to ensure a more efficient global health architecture and avoid food shortages in the future. The proposal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to defeat the pandemic establishes a plan with clear targets, pragmatic actions, and at a feasible cost. It builds on and supports the ongoing work of WHO, its partners in the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator initiative, as well as the work of the World Bank Group, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and many others. This mechanism was an example of partnership of different organizations towards the promotion of a stronger global health architecture. Parliamentarians play an important role in holding their governments accountable and pushing for the application of important resolutions at a global level. This session will convene a panel discussion to understand the parliamentary perspective on the way forward to ensure effective commitments from Member States to global funding mechanisms with a special focus on preparedness.

World leaders promised to deliver quality education for all by 2030 and we know that investment in education and training is mission critical if the Global South is to reap the potential of its "demographic dividend". Most poorer countries have growing working age populations, with people under age 25 projected to make up 90% of the prime-age workforce in 2050. However, 40% of low- and lower-middle income nations were forced to slash spending on the education needed to unlock that potential in young people. As many as 78 million are now out of school all together – and 73 million young people are out of work: six million more than before the pandemic. In fact, learning interruptions owing to school closures risk today’s generation of students losing the equivalent of 14% of today’s global GDP in lifetime earnings, if left unaddressed. Globally, this generation of students risks losing $21 trillion in potential lifetime earnings, which could mean lower productivity, greater inequality, and risks of social unrest for decades to come. So, how do leaders make the trade-offs needed to invest in the next generation, on whom will we soon rely?

As global challenges multiply and trade-offs get tougher, it becomes ever more essential for governments, politicians, public civil servants, and parliamentarians to enhance good governance. Effective institutions are needed to ensure transparency and accountability, economic stability, public safety measures, and delivery of public goods and services, achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Without transparency and accountability, countries risk facing growing inequalities, increased poverty, and lack of public trust. Furthermore, they are essential in reinforcing fiscal sustainability, accelerating digital governance, improving service delivery, resource mobilization and debt management These ideals have long been championed by both the World Bank Group and the IMF through its Framework for Enhanced Engagement on Governance. Few countries are navigating these challenges as dramatically as Ukraine, which facing an illegal invasion by Russia, must now rebuild an economy for EU membership. To this end, a reconstruction of the country must include robust transparency and accountability measures. Ukraine provides a powerful lens through which to consider lessons for politicians and policy makers everywhere who are wrestling with the task of building good governance and rebuilding economies for new times. Organised jointly with the European Parliament Liaison Office in Washington, DC, this session will also look at lessons learned from other countries that have undergone post-conflict reforms and have succeeded in building robust and accountable institutions.

An economy is stronger when all citizens can contribute equally – closing the gender employment gap alone would raise GDP per capital by nearly 20% on average. Gender equality can also accelerate progress towards other development goals, including addressing food insecurity, climate change, and conflict and fragility. Yet gender gaps in labour force participation average 30% worldwide and have remained stagnant over the last three decades, and, at the current pace, it will take another 50 years to close the legal gender gap. The IMF gender strategy aims at mainstreaming gender with the recognition that reducing gender disparities goes hand-in-hand with higher economic growth, greater economic stability and resilience, and lower income inequality, while recognising that macroeconomic, structural, and financial policies can support efficient and inclusive outcomes and equitably benefit women, girls, and the society in general. The World Bank Group launched a year-long #AccelerateEquality initiative in 2022, exploring the progress made and lessons learned throughout the last decade in closing gender gaps and promoting girls’ and women's empowerment. The lessons learned from this year-long initiative will inform the update to the World Bank Group Gender Strategy, to be introduced in 2024. Additionally, after nine years of the Women, Business and the Law report, stakeholders are proposing ways in which the recommendations can be turned into legislative action leading to gender-specific impacts.

Countries are still dealing with Covid, climate change continue to reverberate, poverty is rising, low-income developing countries are faced with highest debts in decades, inflation is ongoing, and Russia’s war continue to devastate Ukraine’s economy. What is the latest on global outlook? How will the economic outlook for 2023 shape a world of tougher challenges and tougher trade-offs?

Cross-border mobility inevitably comes with economic and social consequences for those who move, their communities of origin, and their destinations. Today, 295 million people live outside their country of birth, and a large majority are people from developing countries as economic migrants and refugees. Amidst the shockwaves of today, more and more people are moving to build new lives - but support those they left at home. Some 295 million people now live outside their country of birth as economic migrants and refugees - and the explosion of digital money and cryptocurrency now creates unprecedented efficiencies in sharing money with loved ones who may live thousands of miles away. Around the world, migration remains a hot political topic, and politicians and regulators alike, remain anxious about the new risks of cryptocurrency. This session gives parliamentarians the change to hear first-hand about the new World Development Report 2023 on Migrants, Refugees and Societies, which explores migration from a more human and holistic perspective, including drivers of mobility and the role of development; impacts and policy responses, along with briefing from IMF experts on the trends, opportunities, and challenges with the wave of new digital currencies.

Gergana Ivanova, Parliamentary Network: givanova@parlnet.org
Kofi Kafu Tsikata, World Bank Group: ktsikata@worldbankgroup.org
Tilla McAntony, IMF: tmcantony@imf.org