The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2023 Issue

Bottom-Up Solutions To tackle the complex challenges of climate change and inequality, a sys- temic, bottom-up approach is needed, even in challenging times. With escalating tensions in Ukraine, a growing Sino-American rivalry, and many economies grappling with high debts and inflation, overcoming these challenges may seem practi- cally impossible. However, a holistic approach can still yield progress, even under unfavorable conditions. Conventional development strategies that rely heavily on international trade and investment are losing their effectiveness in an increasingly di- vided global economy. Moreover, national governments and multilat- eral development banks are strug- gling to balance the demands of climate action, pandemic recovery, debt repayment, and in some cases, conflict. The problem of poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation is systemic and com- plex. However, most prevailing pol- icy approaches focus on devising separate solutions to specific prob- lems or specific facets of problems, with little regard for how their solu- tions - and the underlying problems - interact. According to environmental scientist Donella Meadows, a system is "an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that the BANKING EXECUTIVE 28 ISSUE 172 APRIL 2023 Bottom-Up Solutions: A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE AND INEQUALITY