French President Emmanuel Macron announced today that the "New Global Financial Pact" summit, held in Paris, focused on working towards a "deep reform" of the global financial system to make it "more effective, fairer, and better adapted to today's world." He referred to a "delayed commitment" of $100 billion to finance climate change mitigation efforts in developing countries. During the closing session of the summit, which gathered around 40 heads of state and government over two days, Macron stated, "We must start working right now," and announced a "follow-up meeting" in Paris in two years regarding this "new consensus" to "have better financial tools to combat poverty and climate warming."
Macron outlined several areas where progress was made, including "restructuring Zambia's debt" and "achieving the goal of allocating $100 billion from the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights to poor countries to assist them with development and energy transition." He addressed the attending leaders, including Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and several African presidents, stating that "everyone willing to officially join will be able to sign the list of commitments or initiatives."
Macron proposed a "follow-up mechanism," but no joint declaration was issued from the summit at this time. According to a statement from the summit obtained by Reuters, "We expect a total increase of $200 billion in the lending capacity of multilateral development banks over the next ten years by improving their balance sheets and taking on more risks." The statement added, "If these reforms are implemented, multilateral development banks may need additional capital."
