Development finance evolution: options for strengthening MDBs financial capacity

This event, jointly organized by Bruegel and the Center for Global Development (CGD), with the participation of the European Commission, provided an opportunity to discuss the implementation of the recommendations G20 Independent Review of MDBs’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks (CAF).

The Multilateral Developmment Bank system needs to evolve, as many of the biggest challenges in the world today are transboundary (e.g., climate change, pandemics). However, the existing multilateral development finance architecture was not designed to address these types of challenges within country portfolios. A refreshed vision of the MDB’s role is needed, one that integrates the traditional development vision (extreme poverty eradication, shared prosperity, and Sustainable Development Goals) with global challenges.

Crucially, there must be a recognition that global challenges and traditional development are interlinked and mutually dependent, and that work to address one does not have come at the expense of the other.