Commissioner Urpilainen discusses sustainable finance with IMF Managing Director Georgieva and receives expert group recommendations

Tomorrow, the Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, will meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, to discuss ways to mobilise concessional finance in the face of increasing needs for partner countries, in particular low and middle income countries.

According to estimations by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), USD 3.9 trillion per annum are needed in global finance to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. To bridge the funding gap, more efforts are needed to crowd in private sector investments to drive forward the twin green and digital transitions.

In this context, the Commission will receive on Tuesday the final report of the High-Level Expert Group on sustainable finance (HLEG), which will be handed over by the Senior Director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), representing the HLEG and in presence of the IMF´s Managing Director. The report is expected to provide concrete recommendations to the Commission on innovative solutions to mobilise private capital for sustainable investments in partner countries, as part of the Global Gateway. These recommendations will provide further impetus to the Global Green Bond Initiative and the one-stop-shop Sustainable Finance Advisory Hub providing technical assistance to partner countries to boost access to sustainable finance.

The event taking place in the Berlaymont (Hall 7) will be live streamed at 14:00 CEST here. Commissioner Urpilainen, Managing Director Georgieva, and the WWF´s Senior Director will deliver press statements. Journalists interested in attending in person are invited to express their interest here. The final report of the HLEG will be available here.

Source: European Commission