Background:

It is widely recognized that the “global commons” and issues that transcend national borders (including climate change, pandemics, and migration) present the greatest challenge to the current multilateral architecture. Given the urgent and existential nature of the climate challenge, the imperative for collective action is urgent. Yet progress has been too slow. The report from the Bretton Woods Committee’s Multilateral Reform Working Group (MRWG) addresses the causes of this impasse and seeks a path forward. It identifies “gaps” (in governance, implementation, and accountability) in both the public and the private sector, and shows why only a system-wide approach to reform will suffice.

On the public-sector side, the gap in governance stems from the lack of a coordinating function within the global commons, especially when it comes to addressing climate change. A second major public-sector gap concerns implementation. Though many efforts to address global challenges are underway, their disparate nature means that the whole is less than the sum of the parts. The third gap concerns accountability and how impact is measured because what gets measured gets done. Regarding the private sector, whose role is indispensable, the governance gap concerns the lack of data on the carbon footprint of the corporate sector where the majority of carbon emissions arise. The implementation gap stems from insufficient regulatory and financial instruments to facilitate climate change investment at scale and the implementation gap concerns lack of mechanism to reduce greenwashing.

The Report lays out a rich agenda for public and private sector action.

Siddharth Tiwari, the Principal Author of the Report, will present the report for about 30 minutes and thereafter Gerry Rice will Chair a period of open questions/comments for another 30 minutes.

Moderator:

Gerry Rice IFF Vice President; Former Director of the Communications Department of the IMF and World Bank

Speaker:

Siddharth Tiwari IFF Vice President; Former Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific, BIS; Former Director of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department of the IMF

Agenda:

07:45 – 08:00 Warm-up/preparation

08:00 – 08:05 Introduction and housekeeping 

08:05 – 08:30 Presentation of the Bretton Woods Committee (BWC) Report

08:30 – 08:55 Q&A with online audience 

08:55 – 09:00 Closing remarks