Collaboration and ESG language to unlock funding for sustainable infrastructure projects

September 5, 2023

Developing countries face many challenges in mobilising private sector investment for sustainable infrastructure projects. Solutions include international cooperation and common environmental, social and governance (ESG) taxonomies. To close the climate finance gap, we need additional private investment especially in low- and middle-income countries.

To serve this purpose, Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are encouraged to expand their support for sustainable infrastructure projects and increase their risk appetite. Furthermore, collaboration among G20 public development banks (PDBs) is encouraged to leverage their strengths and promote transformative impact.

A common ESG language will also help standardise assessments of sustainable investments, reduce greenwashing and attract specialised capital. The G20 is called upon to strengthen institutional networks among developing countries, to strengthen the PDBs, and to create a universal ESG taxonomy for sustainable finance.

Ultimately, the recommendations in this paper aim to contribute to a more sustainable global economy by fostering cooperation, reducing investment risks, and accelerating the flow of funds to sustainable infrastructure projects.

Speakers
Sabrine Emran
Economist
Sabrine Emran is a Finance graduate specializing in financial markets and commodities. She holds a Grande Ecole master’s degree in Management from IESEG School of Management and ISCAE Group, as well as a Specialized master’s degree in Financial Markets from Paris Dauphine University and ENSAE ParisTech. Sabrine Emran started her career in investment writing and product development in the asset management branches of insurance companies and investment banks in Paris, working mainly on alternative investment asset classes. She was also recently a commodities analyst, focusing on risk management strategies for energy and agricultural commodities as well as foreign exchange risks. Sabrine Emran joined the Policy Center for the New south in Septem ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    February 23, 2024
    Heightened geopolitical rivalry has greatly complicated the challenges facing the Global South. Countries identifying with the Global South now have to deal with the long-standing problem of promoting changes in the current international political and economic system to better serve their development needs, while navigating the geopolitically driven fragmentation of trade and investment flows. Moreover, the strategic approaches that could be adopted to deal with those challenges are ...
  • February 20, 2024
    Le Policy Center for the New South et le Groupe d'évaluation indépendante (IEG) de la Banque mondiale organisent un évènement sous le thème «La Banque mondiale au Maroc : apprendre et s'adapter pour avoir un impact ». L'événement examine les conclusions d'une évaluation réce...
  • Authors
    Amshika Amar
    February 16, 2024
    When countries face external financial shocks, they must rely on financial buffers to counter such shocks. The global financial safety net is the set of institutions and arrangements that provide lines of defense for economies against such shocks. From any individual country standpoint, there are three lines of defense in their external financial safety nets: international reserves, pooled resources (swap lines and plurilateral financing arrangements), and the International Monetar ...
  • Authors
    February 14, 2024
    Greater female participation in the labor market and in international trade have been recognized as important drivers for economic growth and essential targets in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, achieving both targets simultaneously will be difficult, if not impossible, in most Middle East and North African (MENA) countries without additional policies to eliminate the remarkably high levels of gender inequality in the labor market. I ...
  • Authors
    Ali Elguellab
    Elhadj Ezzahid
    February 12, 2024
    Dans ce rapport, nous proposons d’utiliser une nouvelle approche pour analyser les structures productives au Maroc. Nous appliquons les outils de la théorie des réseaux aux tableaux des échanges inter-industriels de l'économie marocaine. Nos résultats montrent que le réseau national de production présente des caractéristiques intuitives dans le sens qu’elles sont liées aux processus de production. La structure de ce réseau peut être représentée sous la forme d'un papillon, avec les ...
  • Authors
    Roxy Ndebumadu
    February 9, 2024
    Councilwoman Roxy Ndebumadu is a technology entrepreneur, and special advisor on beneficial AI, online safety and emerging technology. As a two term-elected official, she represents the City of Bowie, the fifth largest city in Maryland. She is also a 2023 alumna of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program. Learn more about her here. Amidst the churning tides of globalization, in which currents of tradition meet the winds of change, there is a call for a new inter ...
  • February 8, 2024
    Depuis 2016, on assiste à une dynamique de création de fonds souverains africains. En 2023, on recense 21 pays et 24 fonds souverains. Sur la seule période 2016-23, celle de la deuxième vague, huit pays vont se doter d’un premier fonds souverain, et d’un deuxième, dans le cas du Maroc, en 2022. Cette étude rappelle tout d’abord l’historique d’une création qui commence, dès 1994, au Botswana, avec le Pula Fund, précisant pour chacun des 24 fonds leur date de création, leur ...
  • February 6, 2024
    يخصص برنامج "حديث الثلاثاء" حلقة هذا الأسبوع لمناقشة موضوع التحديات العالمية الكبرى التي تواجهها البنوك المركزية. إذ تقف هذه المؤسسات المالية عند مفترق طرق حيث تواجه عدة عقبات في السنوات الأخيرة، منها التضخم وارتفاع معدل الفائدة والآثار المالية الراجعة إلى&...