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 September 2022 as an economist where she ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    December 23, 2015
    Global economic growth is likely to be a little better in 2016 than this year’s lackluster outcome. The ongoing slow recovery in the United States and Europe is likely to continue. However, weakness in China as well as several large emerging markets, and sluggishness of world trade, mean that risks are weighted on the downside of this forecast. Morocco, which is reliant on European markets, is a heavy importer of oil, and whose currency has devalued in effective terms, should find t ...
  • Authors
    December 14, 2015
    The end of supply chain is the natural corollary of the sustained price fall of virtually all commodities observed over the past many months. If it appears premature to state exactly what is the impact of this deconsolidation in the commodities value chain, it is believed that the strategic role of physical trading is strengthening. Under such circumstances, the industrial strategies of developing countries and commodity exporters may have to evolve and, in priority, foster optimizi ...
  • Authors
    December 8, 2015
    Trade negotiators rarely get to celebrate a victory. The United States, for example, has been negotiating over 15 bilateral free trade agreements, with none concluded since the Korea-US agreement was finalized at the end of 2010. This makes the recently finalized Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)agreement between the United States and 11 other countries all the more remarkable. But the TPP still faces major hurdles, not least a divisive ratification debate in the U.S. Congress, which ...
  • December 7, 2015
    The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership was initiated with the aim to build a space of shared prosperity and security among all the countries in the region. The achievement of this objective, however, continues to be challenged by several geopolitical, economic and social factors. In such a context, there is now a greater urgency to adapt the approach and the instruments, thus allowing Euro-Mediterranean partners to seize opportunities towards an effective area of shared stability and pr ...
  • Authors
    November 25, 2015
    The contribution that the diaspora makes to development in the country of origin is examined. Drawing on a recent World Bank survey of migrants from the MENA countries, the needs of the diaspora and the development role it can play through its organizations are reviewed. A constructive interaction with the diaspora can be greatly enhanced by supportive policies in the country of origin. The main focus of the paper is on the Middle East and North African region, and more specifically ...
  • Authors
    Edité par:
    Karim El Mokri
    Aziz Ragbi
    Said Tounsi
    November 23, 2015
    Depuis le déclenchement de la crise économique et financière internationale, la politique budgétaire a connu un vif regain d’intérêt dans les arènes académiques et dans les débats des policy-makers, aussi bien dans les pays avancés que ceux en voie de développement. Pour un pays en voie de développement comme le Maroc, l’importance de la politique budgétaire réside dans le potentiel qu’elle offre en matière de stabilisation du cycle économique et de relance de l’activité en période ...
  • Authors
    Karim El Mokri
    Aziz Ragbi
    Said Tounsi
    November 23, 2015
    The issue of a powerful fiscal policy comeback is not only being debated in Europe. It is also interesting for Morocco, in many respects. If in Europe there is controversy between the proponents of the structural budgetary balance rule and critics of restrictive policies in the context of major financial and recessive shocks, in the South of the Mediterranean fiscal policy is caught between the multiple social and economic requirements and the constraint of sustainability. ...