The penultimate session examined the challenges of sustainable development and the financing of critical global public goods.
These challenges underscore the need to revitalize the institutions of international cooperation. A retreat from the architecture of international cooperation would be particularly damaging, given the growing urgency of fostering sustainable development and the huge investments in new technologies and abatement that are required to respond effectively to the challenge of climate change. Mobilizing the necessary collective action will entail a range of measures to price carbon emissions, provide accurate credit ratings for countries on unsustainable development paths, tax environmental "bads" and ensure the enforcement of collective agreements.
The investments needed in global public goods may overwhelm the capacity of governments struggling with the legacy of excessive debt burdens that reflect an excessively lax fiscal policy stance before the crisis or the extraordinary measures to save banking systems and support output and employment during the crisis. Moreover, these governments are unlikely to increase resources for development, with potential implications for international development and poverty reduction.
Chair: Barry Carin, CIGI
Panellists:
- Inge Kaul, Hertie School of Governance
- Wonhyuk Lim, Korea Development Institute
- Lawrence MacDonald, Center for Global Development
- Francisco Sagasti, FORO Nacional Internacional