Events

About the Event:

In the face of growing evidence that climate change and its various adverse impacts have economic origins and consequences, international financial institutions (IFIs) have started paying more attention to environmental issues. The ‘greening’ of the International Monetary Fund (IMF; Fund) – in its current incorporation of climate-related concerns into its legal mandate – is thus neither surprising nor necessarily suspect. The Fund, along with other IFIs such as the World Bank, has previously demonstrated its willingness and ability to evolve and adopt traditionally ‘non-economic’ issues. Further, the IMF’s apparent sensitivity to the social (and now, ecological) implications of its decisions and actions could be seen as an improvement to its long-criticized disregard of the human costs of its interventions, especially in the past relative to the structural adjustment programs. This same track record, however, as well as its perpetuation and institutionalization of inter-State inequalities, justifies scepticism towards the Fund’s recent efforts to integrate climate change issues in its agenda, including its surveillance activities.

This paper sketches a research plan seeking to unpack this phenomenon and investigate the legal issues surrounding a ‘green’ IMF. It asks how the IMF has been incorporating climate change into its mandate and activities, and what the implications are for the obligations and rights of member States, not only within the Fund’s legal regime but also under climate change law. To answer this question, the paper examines the IMF’s publicly available official documents, including its Article IV staff reports, together with reports on climate finance needs, particularly for adaptation in developing countries. The inquiry is divided into sub-questions roughly corresponding to the three parts of the paper. Part I sketches the concepts and instruments underpinning the IMF’s understanding and implementation of its role in relation to climate change. It focuses on the notion of ‘macro-criticality’, which the Fund has previously relied on to rationalise the inclusion of social protection within its mandate. The next part analyses how the IMF’s findings and policy advice during Article IV consultations reflect climate adaptation needs, specifically of climate- and debt-vulnerable countries. In parallel, Part III scrutinises whether those findings and policy advice are consistent with states’ climate mitigation obligations and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC).

There are likely to be some positive outcomes from a green IMF. However, there are also reasons to be sceptical, if not critical, of this shift, considering the persistent structural asymmetries in the Fund’s legal framework and operations. Scholars (and policymakers) therefore need to be cautiously optimistic about this ongoing development, paying particular attention to how the seemingly laudable decision to address climate change could create additional and disproportionate legal and financial burdens for certain member states, such as the poor, already debt-ridden, ones who are at the same time especially climate-vulnerable.

Discussants:

Professor Ben Clift, Professor of Political Economy, Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS), University of Warwick

Dr Jeremmy Okonjo, Assistant Professor, Warwick Law School, University of Warwick

About the Speaker:

Dr Johanna Lorenzo is an Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL). She is currently a Visiting Research fellow at the GLOBE Centre. She specialises in international law and development, international trade law, and the law of international financial institutions (IFIs).

Lunch will be provided.
Please email globe@warwick.ac.uk if you have any dietary or access requirements.

Image Credit: Getty Images

About the series​:

Postgraduate and research students are invited to attend a series of lectures by distinguished international scholars, legal practitioners, and industry professionals.

About the speaker:

Katharina Crinson specialises in restructuring and insolvency. She is co-editor of Panoramic Restructuring & Insolvency, a contributing editor of International Corporate Rescue, and a member of the Insolvency Lawyers’ Association Technical Committee, the Lexis PSL R&I Focus Group, and the Practice Committee for From Counsel’s restructuring section. She is co-chair of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) UNCITRAL committee and past chair of IWIRC London Network.

The event will be followed by a drinks reception​. Please email globe@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window if you have dietary or access requirements.