The new IMF climate finance mechanism faces multiple implementation challenges. It will take urgent actions from the institution and its major shareholders to avoid disillusionment among policymakers in climate-vulnerable developing countries.

One in five people on the planet live in countries at risk of debt distress. Yet the leaders and institutions that understand the challenge and could address it are instead virtue signaling and pointing the finger at others who share responsibly for a solution. We need a different approach—one that ...

The IMF has been commended for its prompt and effective response to the pandemic crisis. But its contribution to resolving the climate crisis has so far been mixed.

Ahead of COP27, which will take place in Egypt in November 2022, CGD hosted an event that aimed to identify the challenges of mobilizing private finance for climate action in Africa as well as the opportunities and policies needed to overcome them. From the rich discussions, we have summarized a ran...

Improving the effectiveness and traction of IMF surveillance could enable timely responses to climate-related crises. Overseeing the international monetary system and the policies of its member countries—an activity known as “surveillance”—is a key function the IMF performs to promote global economi...

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set ambitious targets for high-quality, universal education by 2030. But existing efforts to “cost the SDGs” return unattainable price tags. In this chapter, we first review approaches to costing the SDGs in the education sector.

Ongoing and looming global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have brought renewed attention to the delivery of global public goods (GPGs)—goods that benefit the entire world and can only be provided through cooperation between countries, like public health, climate action, and ...