The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2021

World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2021 munization as a global public good and reiterate our support to all col- laborative efforts, especially to the four pillars of the access to covid-19 tools accelerator (act-a) and its covax facility. We emphasize the need to enhance cooperation and policy co- herence with and among multilateral organizations, especially with the world health organization. We look forward to the recommendations of the g20 high level independent panel on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and re- sponse in july. Strong fundamentals and sound poli- cies are essential to the stability of the international monetary system. We remain committed that our ex- change rates reflect underlying eco- nomic fundamentals and note that exchange rate flexibility can facilitate the adjustment of our economies. We will continue to consult closely on foreign exchange market devel- opments. We recognize that exces- sive volatility or disorderly movements in exchange rates can have adverse implications for eco- nomic and financial stability. We will refrain from competitive devalua- tions and will not target our ex- change rates for competitive purposes. We acknowledge the important role of open and fair rules-based trade in restoring growth and job-creation. We recall our commitment to fight protectionism and we encourage concerted efforts to reform the world trade organization. The g20 action plan, endorsed on 15 april 2020 and updated last october, sets out the key principles guiding our response, taking into account country-specific conditions. We wel- come the third progress report (annex 1), which takes stock of the significant progress made against our commitments so far. Recent health and economic developments and persisting downside risks call for strong policy actions, enhanced mul- tilateral coordination and continued support to the most vulnerable. We therefore endorse the second update of the g20 action plan (annex 2) set- ting a forward-looking agenda to tackle current and future global chal- lenges. In line with the riyadh lead- ers’ declaration of november 2020, we reiterate our commitment to keeping the g20 action plan a living document and to regularly review, update, track implementation of, and report on it. We concur on the need to harness the opportunities stemming from technological innovation to boost the recovery and ensure broad-based prosperity. We look forward to the g20 menu of policy options on pro- ductivity-enhancing digital transfor- mation, which will provide good practices for harnessing the opportu- nities offered by digitalization while ensuring that these opportunities are shared within and across countries. We welcome ongoing efforts for strengthening global risk monitoring and look forward to integrating it more systematically into future pol- icy discussions where appropriate. We will continue to closely coordi- nate our efforts to enhance resilience against future shocks, including pan- demics, natural disasters, climate and environmental risks. We also recognize that improving data avail- ability and provision, including on environmental issues, and harnessing the wealth of data produced by digi- talization, while ensuring compli- ance with legal frameworks on data protection and privacy, will be criti- cal to better inform our decisions. We therefore ask the international monetary fund (imf), in close coop- eration with the inter-agency group on economic and financial statistics (iag) and the financial stability board (fsb), to prepare a concept note on a possible new data gaps initiative. Tackling climate change and promot- ing environmental protection are in- creasingly urgent for our economies and societies. Shaping the recovery provides a unique opportunity to de- velop forward-looking strategies in- vesting in innovative technologies and promoting just transitions toward more sustainable economies and so- cieties, with particular attention to the most affected segments of the population and in line with the paris agreement. We look forward to dis- cussing how to better coordinate and deliver such strategies to achieve our shared agenda. We encourage inter- national organizations to monitor re- covery strategies and provide further analysis on the impact of climate change and de-carbonization meas- ures on growth and employment, in line with their respective mandates. We acknowledge that mobilizing sustainable finance is essential for global growth and stability and for promoting the transitions towards greener, more resilient and inclusive societies and economies. We ask the fsb to work on evaluating the avail- ability of data and data gaps on cli- mate-related financial stability risks, and on ways to improve climate-re- lated financial disclosures, and to re- port on these subjects in july. We agree on the importance of promot- ing globally consistent, comparable high-quality standards of disclosure for sustainability reporting, building on the recommendations of the fsb’s task force on climate-related finan- cial disclosures. We welcome grow- ing private sector participation. We also take note of growing public sec- tor participation and transparency in these areas. We welcome the re-es- tablishment of the sustainable fi- nance study group, which we are upgrading to a working group, and we look forward to its work, for 2021, on developing, in a collabora- tive manner, an initial evidence- based and climate-focused g20 sustainable finance roadmap, im- proving sustainability reporting, identifying sustainable investments, and aligning international financial institutions’ efforts with the paris agreement. We also look forward to continuing the discussion on these issues at the venice conference on climate, which will be held on 11 july. ISSUE 148 APRIL 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 29