Commonwealth finance ministers meeting: dire warnings about climate change but ways to help boost trade

Commonwealth finance ministers, meeting at the IMF in Washington DC, were told much more needed to be done to tackle the challenges of climate change.

Commonwealth finance ministers, meeting at the IMF in Washington DC, were told much more needed to be done to tackle the challenges of climate change. One of the world’s leading experts, Professor Lord Stern, said efforts needed to “ramped up”. Trillions of dollars had to be invested in tackling climate change and that the world was not doing enough, he said.

Ministers acknowledged the Commonwealth’s role in paving the way for the COP21 commitments, signed in Paris last December, limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 Celsius. But they also were told about the continued threat to small states most vulnerable to climate change. Lord Stern called for a change in the criteria used when giving money to countries tackling climate change. He said it should be based on vulnerability, sustainability and development.

The group called for global action to ensure a level playing field and inclusiveness when it came to matters of international taxation.

Ministers welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding to set up the Commonwealth Trade Finance Facility (CTFF). The memo was signed by Standard Chartered Bank’s global head of transaction banking, Alex Manson, P.S. Jayakumar, managing director and chief executive officer at the Bank of Baroda, and the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland.

The Facility, which will be based in Malta, is expected to make US$ 100 million available over a three year period to small states who cannot get the money needed to break into international markets.