G20 Group: We Need an Additional $3 Trillion for Climate Action

The G20 group announced in a report released on Tuesday, July 18, that multilateral development banks must make significant changes to their operational methods to eradicate poverty. Among these proposed changes is to triple the level of sustainable financing by 2030 and to create a new mechanism to attract more financial support for program implementation. According to Reuters, the group also formed an independent committee headed by two economists, Lawrence Summers and NK Singh, to propose reforms for multilateral development banks regarding increased financing for sustainable development goals and climate change. The report, presented during the G20 financial meeting in Gujarat, India, states that multilateral development banks must individually and collectively become effective agents in all developing countries to integrate development programs and climate change. According to the group, approximately $3 trillion in additional annual spending is needed for incremental investments in climate actions and to achieve other sustainable development goals by 2030. Of this amount, about $1.8 trillion should be allocated to sustainable infrastructure, which represents a fourfold increase compared to 2019, while $1.5 trillion is required to meet other goals, including a 75% increase in health and education spending. Countries like Zambia and Ghana have been waiting for major lenders to provide debt relief facilities under the so-called 'Common Framework' led by the G20.