EBRD-backed Salkhit windfarm in Mongolia
New episode of the EBRD podcast available for download on iTunes, Sound Cloud and ebrd.com
The latest episode of the Pocket Economics podcast focuses on Climate Finance and asks how much it will cost to combat climate change and who should pay the bill: developed or developing countries.
“Conversation about defining climate finance is not about language, it’s about politics”, Mattia Romani, EBRD Managing Director for Economics, Policy and Governance, tells Jonathan Charles, EBRD Managing Director, Communications.
“Defining climate finance means to define the financial magnitude of the climate change challenge and also who should pay for it - and this is why this issue has been so controversial over the years”, Mr Romani says.
Defining climate finance is not “an esoteric debate” but has very real consequences, especially for the developing countries, he argues
“This is about how post-colonial countries have been treated in the past and what role they want to see in the future”, he adds.
He also provides examples of countries with particularly climate-aware economies such as Costa Rica and Kazakhstan.
According to Mr Romani, the secret of their success lies in leadership, implementation capacity and strong support from international organisations.
The next episode of Pocket Economics will feature Sergei Guriev, the EBRD’s Chief Economist, and be devoted to Inequality.
The EBRD’s strategic plan for the period 2016-18 has three priorities: strengthening economic resilience, addressing global challenges and supporting regional integration.
