President joins world leaders at financial summit
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Friday joined other global leaders to participate in the New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris, France.
Advertisement
Put together by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the two-day summit was aimed at laying the groundwork for a renewed financial system suited to the common challenges of the 21st century.
They include fighting inequalities, climate change and protecting biodiversity.
It also seeks to find financial solutions to the interlinked global goals of tackling poverty, curbing planet-heating emissions and protecting nature.
Ghana’s delegation also included the Minister of Finance and Chair of V20 Group of 58 Finance Ministers, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie.
Public finance shock
In his opening remarks, President Macron told delegates that the world needed a "public finance shock", a global push of innovation and financing, to fight those challenges.
He added that the current system was not well suited to address the world's challenges.
Mr Macron said policymakers and countries should not ever have to choose between reducing poverty and protecting the planet.
Other Trending Stories
Trust
The summit focused on restoring trust between partners by addressing the crippling debt of most countries in the Global South, releasing the resources already promised – $100 billion for the climate and $100 billion for the transfer of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
The summit also discussed ways of mobilising more private sector resources by creating conditions for massive financing and unlocking innovative financing to avoid penalising countries that do not have their own resources, thereby increasing the concessionary resources available.
Coalitions
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said it was important to develop powerful coalitions that were willing to fight for the common good of humanity.
“As we coordinate our efforts to respond positively to the need for the development of a fit-for-climate global financial system, it is critical that we scale up the innovative climate financing mechanisms and speed up climate action,” he added.
That, Mr Ofori-Atta explained, was to ensure that they maintained the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature limit.
He also called for the kind of leadership the world saw that led to the abolishment of apartheid, the drive behind the civil rights movement and the development of the Bretton Woods institutions.
Mr Ofori-Atta called on the global leaders to develop enlightened self-interest, particularly in the issues of climate change, the adaptation of climate vulnerable countries and the formulation of more ambitious mitigation initiatives.