IMF / Resilience and Sustainability Trust, India, Lebanon

The IMF announced today (Thursday, November 4) that the G20 welcomed the $650 billion Special Drawing Rights allocation from the IMF. This allocation was implemented over the summer and now the Fund is working on actionable options for its members with strong external positions to significantly magnify the impact of that Special Drawing Rights allocation through voluntary channeling part of their allocated Special Drawing Rights to help more vulnerable countries. 

“The G20 welcomed recent pledges of about $45 billion as a step toward what they characterized as a total global ambition of $100 billion of voluntary contributions for countries most in need. They also welcomed the ongoing work to significantly scale up the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, and they endorsed the establishment of a new resilience and sustainability trust, the RST, to provide affordable long-term financing to help vulnerable countries, including in Africa, small island developing states, and vulnerable middle income countries,” said Gerry Rice, Director of the Communications Department at the IMF.

During COP26, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi pledged that India would reach net zero emissions by 2070 and during today’s press briefing Rice emphasized that the IMF welcomes Prime Minister Modi’s pledge.

“India is currently one of the world’s largest emitters still heavily reliant on coal for electricity generation, and so its actions may help catalyze action in other emerging market economies as well. India’s significant investment in renewables and climate change adaptation policies suggests it’s well-positioned to take further steps to reach this new target. We are heartened by India’s focus on achieving progress in the current decade, given the urgent need for global mitigation action. And as with other countries, it will be important to follow through with specific actions to contain emissions over the current decade,” said Rice.

To watch the full event, click here.