Climate finance and debt relief loom large at World Bank, IMF meetings

Global activists demonstratate on the first day of the IMF-World Bank Group spring meetings, near the Washington Monument in Washington, DC on 15 April, 2024. © AFP - CHRIS KLEPONIS

The urgent issues of climate financing and global inequality will underpin this week’s spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – coming amid growing calls for a shake-up of those institutions to avoid a climate-driven “economic catastrophe”.

The debt burden on developing countries, most of which are suffering disproportionate climate shocks, is an issue that’s gained traction at successive climate talks – with a Loss and Damages Fund hailed as a major success at last year’s Cop28 conference in Dubai.