Finance in Common outcomes lack in ambition on climate and rights

Recourse joined a broad range of civil society coalitions in calling the Finance in Common Summit “a wasted opportunity”. The Summit gathered together for the first time over 400 public development banks (PDBs), together controlling the flow of more than $2 trillion in public money. In advance of the Summit, over 320 organisations from all around the world called on the public development banks to “deliver the world we want”.

The Summit aimed to commit PDBs to “support the transformation of the global economy and societies towards sustainable and resilient development”, including a shift of “strategies, investment patterns, activities and operating modalities to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, while responding to the Covid-19 crisis.”

But despite these lofty ambitions, the final declaration only made marginal progress in leading the way for ambitious action on issues such as climate change and fossil fuel exclusion, and remained largely silent on other important issues, such as human rights. Moreover, large and influential multilateral development banks (MDBs), such as the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), choose to sit on the fence and did not sign the final declaration – further undermining the significance of the document. The AIIB, launched in the aftermath of the signing of the Paris Agreement, lost yet another opportunity to prove its climate credentials. Active civil society involvement in the Summit itself was also limited, with few opportunities for genuine engagement.

Petra Kjell, Campaigns Manager at Recourse, said:

“Finance in Common provided an ideal opportunity for public development banks to stake out a roadmap for meaningful climate action towards COP26 in 2021, as well as raise the bar on other important issues, such as human rights. But a lack of ambition and timebound commitments make the summit’s Joint Declaration next to meaningless. It is particularly disappointing that multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, refused to make their engagement official by signing the declaration. The AIIB, as a post-Paris Agreement bank, is yet again failing to live up to its promises to be ‘green’. The next 12 months, building up to the next Summit and COP26, will be critical for rectifying these mistakes.”

To read the statements that Recourse supported, see:

Official Civil Society statement

Big Shift Global Coalition statement

Fossil fuel statement

See also Recourse’s infographic on the AIIB and Paris Alignment, published in collaboration with NGO Forum on ADB and the Big Shift Global coalition.