Session 4 - Sustainable Development and Financing Critical Global Public Goods

Series: CIGI '12: Five Years After the Fall
November 11, 2012

Session 4 - Sustainable Development and Financing Critical Global Public Goods

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
Series:CIGI '12: Five Years After the Fall
Over the past five years, the global financial crisis has dominated international policy discussions. This August marks the fifth anniversary of its outbreak. The starting point for the CIGI ’12 conference, then, is the recognition that the legacy of the global financial crisis is felt across a spectrum of issues. These issues span the short-term outlook for global growth, global financial regulation and strengthening the Financial Stability Board (FSB); the challenges of poverty reduction and sustainable development; and the transition in global leadership, as, on the one hand, US economic and strategic leadership is eroded by the legacy of the financial crisis and political gridlock over public finances, while, on the other hand, China and other emerging economies continue their economic and geo-political rise. CIGI ’12 will focus on making concrete policy recommendations to build the global governance arrangements that are needed to respond effectively to the legacy of the crisis.
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