summary
Event: 3rd Development Banking Summit (Finance in Common Summit)
Date: October 18-20, 2022
Co-organized by European Investment Bank (EIB) and African Development Bank (AfDB)
Supported and sponsored by: French Development Agency (AFD), Italian Depositary Loan Corporation (CDP), Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB)
Location: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Main Participants
Approximately 900 participants from the Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire, AfDB President, AFD President, development banks, international organizations, and civil society (more than 1,900 participants if you add online). The UN Deputy Secretary-General, IMF Managing Director, AIB President, and others provided video messages.
Background and Objectives
The Development Bank Summit aims to bring together approximately 522 development banks to discuss the role of development banks in achieving climate change and the SDGs. The first Development Bank Summit was held in 2020, led by the President of AFD as Chair of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC). This year’s event was the first face-to-face and the first in Africa.
The overall theme of the conference is “Accelerating Green and Just Transitions for a Sustainable Recovery” in anticipation of COP 27 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November this year. Twenty thematic sessions were held to broadly discuss the roles that development banks should play, their mutual collaboration, and the mobilization of private-sector funds amid fears of delays in achieving the Paris Agreement and the SDGs under the complex crisis. Senior Advisor Megumi Muto participated in the high-level event “Building Green and Quality Infrastructure for Sustainable Impact” as one of the panelists. The event was held in Tokyo, Japan.
Overview of High-Level Events
Green, high-quality infrastructure is essential for sustainable development in developing countries, but quality can come at a cost. At this event, panelists discussed how development banks can contribute to infrastructure planning and financing.
JICA Senior Advisor Muto introduced JICA’s disaster management assistance efforts in the Philippines as a case study of climate change adaptation. JICA has also assisted the central government in river management and levee design, and local governments in capacity building for resettlement. As a result, JICA has fostered awareness in the Philippines of the need to adapt to climate change and that resettlement is not a cost but an action to protect people. This has led to a change in the Philippines to actively promote disaster resilience through disaster risk management plans, proactive investment in preventive measures, and other measures. In response to this, we emphasized the importance of identifying and supporting core projects that will transform the entire society, including government policies, people’s behavior, and communities.
Regarding the catalyst and mobilization of private funds, he cited the support for local water districts that mobilized local bank loans in coordination with the U.S. guarantee and yen loans. The latter are those with weak infrastructure.
In addition, WWF called for the use of tools to limit negative impacts on biodiversity (mitigation pyramid), as ecologically rich areas and areas with high infrastructure needs tend to overlap.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) also noted that sustainable infrastructure development requires setting and adhering to high requirements related to the environment, gender, etc., and the need for effective tools in collaboration with international organizations to accelerate development.
The AfDB cited efforts to strengthen intra-African connectivity, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive efforts, not only in infrastructure development, but also in policy dialogue, One Stop Border Post, and other capacity building support.
Furthermore, in order to take advantage of the catalytic function of the Development Bank’s funds to draw private capital, AFD pointed out the need for guarantees and investments to mitigate risks for the private sector.
The event concluded by confirming the need for development banks to take a holistic view of the planet, policies, organizations, and people to consider a comprehensive approach to green and quality infrastructure development, and for development banks to take the lead in catalyzing and mobilizing private capital.
© Source JICA
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.