V20 Finance Ministers Governors Working Group Meeting on the margins of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings

V20 Finance Ministers Governors Working Group Meeting on the margins of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings

Tuesday, 16 April 2024 | 9.30am – 11.00am ET

V20 Office, Conference Room 7A, 7th Floor, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave, NW #7000, Washington, D.C. 20006

Background 

The V20 Finance Ministers, a pioneering global group of representatives of 68 countries systematically vulnerable to climate change, launched a new group comprising their central bank governors to better understand the impacts of the climate crisis on macroeconomics, monetary policy and financial stability. The V20 Finance Ministers Governors Working Group was established during the V20’s 11th Ministerial gathering during the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF held in Morocco in October 2023.

The V20 Finance Ministers Governors Working Group was launched to “further improve, inter alia, our understanding of the macroeconomic effects of climate change and to continue our intensive technical collaboration, especially between V20 central banks, focused on ways climate prosperity plans are enabled by integrating climate risks and aspects into macroeconomic analysis and modeling toolkits, and to collaboratively engage on liquidity options, including mobilizing resources from the IMF and cooperation with G21 central banks for climate action in V20 member states”.

Following the decision of the Finance Ministers through the Ministerial Communique of October 2023 , Central Bank Governors of V20 member states became a working group of the V20. V20 Central Bank Governors are encouraged to actively participate in mapping out the research and policy advocacy terrain while reaching out to counterparts in Europe and North America to ensure responses are global and sustained. The Governors’ group will lead the charge on sustaining technical collaboration and engaging on liquidity options, including mobilizing resources for development-positive climate action. A key focus here will be on sustainable financial sector reforms to attract private sector investment in climate action.

Global Shield against Climate Risks 

The V20 and G7 have launched the Global Shield against Climate Risks to increase pre-arranged financing to address climate risks and close the financial protection gap. Under the Global Shield we are envisioning a package for Central Banks, consisting of technical assistance and support for innovative financial instruments to protect vulnerable groups from climate change impacts. The proposed V20 Finance Ministers Governors Working Group Meeting  will be a useful sounding board for the design of these support packages for Central Banks under the Global Shield.

Objectives 

The Workshop objectives are as follows:

1. Unpack the entry points for climate action by central banks and the financial sector, informed by emerging lessons from ongoing IMF surveillance work and collaborative efforts between central banks and other financial supervisory bodies;
2. Understand gaps in analytics, policy and institutional design for effective climate change response; and
3. Develop an action plan for integrating climate risks in central bank operations and in the overall financial sector including technical collaboration, policy engagement on liquidity and cost of capital, and joint efforts on cross-border surveillance of climate risks.

Format

A roundtable discussion convened by the V20 Finance Ministers on the margins of the Spring Meetings.

Workshop Outputs 

In terms of outputs, the Workshop is envisaged to produce a high-level roadmap on action items on policies and reforms needed at the central bank level to mainstream climate risks and promote climate action through financial sector reforms.

A short-term work program is also envisaged to target technical assistance for V20 Central Banks.

Agenda