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The world "is more coupled than we think"
Rania Al-Mashat, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, tells GZERO's Tony Maciulis that the pandemic taught us how interconnected we truly are; no one nation can solve a problem as big as climate change, food insecurity, or geopolitical strife on its own. Al-Mashat makes the case for looking beyond the short term problems of inflation and toward longer-term solutions for the most pressing issues of our time.
In a conversation at the World Bank/IMF spring meetings in Washington, DC, she explains the key outcomes of last year's UN Climate Conference COP27, held in her home country, and what the road ahead looks like for climate financing and confronting the looming sovereign debt crisis.
Al-Mashat also states that in the coming months we will learn the new framework and path forward for the World Bank and IMF, institutions whose models have been both challenged and criticized during this historic period of global crises.
Egypt wants COP27 to be all about implementation
Later this year, Egypt will be hosting the COP27 Climate Summit. What does the gathering hope to accomplish at such an uncertain time for climate action?
It's time to go from pledges and commitments to implementation, Egyptian Minister for International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat says during a Global Stage livestream conversation hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with Microsoft.
"We want it to be an implementation COP," she explains. "And for that to happen, there needs to be a way for all the private-sector commitments that were made in Glasgow to make their ways to countries. And the only way to do that is if more climate finance ... is presented to actually de-risk some of the private-sector investments."
Despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Al-Mashat believes climate is still a common-denominator issue for the entire world. For instance, the war is having a huge impact on food security.
The key, she adds, is nevertheless to show the private sector that it's safe to invest in things in climate partnerships with the private sector that can be scaled up.
Watch more of this Global Stage event: Live from Washington, DC: Financing the Future
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Is global economic inequality getting worse?
Yes, said the majority of respondents in a recent GZERO poll.
What's happening in Ukraine has undone much of the momentum for narrowing the equality gap created during the pandemic, said Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media, during a Global Stage livestream conversation hosted by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft. The event was held on site at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, DC , and was moderated by Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve reporter at The New York Times. The war has aggravated pre-existing problems like high inflation and supply chain disruptions. A cease-fire would help end all this, but don't count on it.
This week the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are holding their annual spring meetings. The conflict is top and center on the agenda, as is financial assistance to first help Ukraine keep the lights on and someday rebuild when the Russians leave.
"We're working on that," World Bank President David Malpass said upon joining the discussion just minutes after meeting Ukrainian officials. Beyond the conflict itself, Malpass is now more broadly concerned about the global economic slowdown and whether central banks have the tools for a soft landing after raising interest rates to fight inflation.
One country that's successfully stood up to the Russian threat is Lithuania, whose Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė talked about her country's long-term energy independence strategy. Lithuania recently became the first EU member state to completely wean itself off Russian fossil fuels.
And what about the ripple effects from the conflict in other parts of the world, like food security? This is a big deal in countries in the Middle East and North Africa that rely heavily on Russian and Ukrainian wheat imports like Egypt.
Rania Al-Mashat, Egyptian minister for international cooperation, explained how her country diversified its food imports to soften the impact of such disruptions.
Later this year, Egypt is hosting the COP27 climate summit. But even more importantly, right before that meeting there will be a G20 summit in Indonesia — and Russia's invited.
What'll happen? Will the US and its allies walk out of rooms when the Russians show up? The G20 consensus has been fragmented, said Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Indeed it has, added Bremmer, who believes the war in Ukraine is "ripping up the fabric of geopolitics" for years to come.
Finally, Vickie Robinson, head of Microsoft's Airband Initiative to expand broadband access throughout the developing world, shared her perspective about how getting more people online will help achieve global equality.
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Join us for our Global Stage event live from Washington DC
WATCH : Today at 3:30 pm ET, GZERO Media streamed from the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, to discuss "Financing the Future" as part of our Global Stage series.
Moderator Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve reporter at The New York Times, led the conversation with Eurasia Group and GZERO Media president Ian Bremmer, World Bank president David Malpass, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, and Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt. We also heard from Vickie Robinson, General Manager, Microsoft Airband Initiative, and Gintarė Skaistė, Minister of Finance, Lithuania.
GZERO Media's Webby Award-nominated Global Stage series is produced in partnership with Microsoft.
Live from Washington, DC: Financing the Future
Thursday, April 21
3:30 pm ET/12:30 pm PT
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