Geneva, 28 of October 2020 — The first summit bringing together the international finance community and national development banks to support common action for climate change mitigation and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, will take place in November.

The Finance Common Summit will kick-off with a workshop from the 3 to 5 of November, the research conference will be on the 9 and 10, and the high-level political segment will be on the 11 and 12 November.

If you work financing innovation you must be there. Or if you want to know where most financing for innovation really comes from.

The Finance in Common Summit is hosted under the auspices of France’s President Emmanuel Macron, counts with the participation of the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and is organized by Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of French Development Agency, (AFD), and the research conference is co-organised by Columbia University Professor Dr. Stephany Griffith-Jones.

The 14th AFD International Research Conference on Development, The Visible Hand: Development Banks in Transition, will take place in the framework of the Finance in Common Summit.

It is organized with the academic support of the lnstitute of New Structural Economics at Peking University (INSE), the lnstitute for Sustainable Development and lnternational Relations (lDDRl), and the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (FERDI).

Why is it important? The Finance in Common Summit will bring together 450 Public Development Banks (PDBs) to discuss the role of national development banks and their countercyclical function during economic downturns, as well their new role financing sustainable recovery measures that address the climate emergency.

The research conference, which happens in the framework of the Summit, has a roster of top economists in the field of public finance for innovation and national development banks, as well as multilateral financial institutions. Speakers include Joseph Stiglitz, and Dr. Stephany Griffith-Jones, PhD Cambridge University, who is leading the Research Conference part of the Summit.

Dr. Griffth-Jones is the Financial Markets Program Director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and the co-author of the major reference book on national development banks, along with Columbia University Professor Jose A. Ocampo, The Future of National Development Banks.

The book addresses the structure of development banks and looks at possible new orientations that the sector should adopt to finance innovation, and their countercyclical role in economic downturns.

Watch my interview with Dr. Griffiths-Jones on the raison d’être of development banks and what is their role supporting innovation and steering against the winds in economic downturns.

Dr. Griffith-Jones research looks at global capital flows, with special reference to flows to emerging markets, and macro-economic management of capital flows in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Griffith-Jones current research focus is on international finance and development, with emphasis on reform of the international financial system, specifically in relation to financial regulation, global governance and international capital flows.

She has acted as senior consultant to governments in Eastern Europe and Latin America and to many international agencies, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Commission, UNICEF, UNDP, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Dr. Griffith-Jones has published over 20 books and written many scholarly and journalistic articles, including Time for the Visible Hand, Lessons from the 2008 crisis, published in 2010, and edited jointly with José Antonio Ocampo and Joseph Stiglitz.

She also speaks cogently on the Robin Hood tax. Remember that? While Google+ is not around anymore, this discussion on a news program, in 2012, where she took part, is still food for thought.

“The role of the EIB, and in parallel of national State Investment Banks (SIBs), is crucial to our proposal, for the reasons set out by Mariana Mazzucato in her chapter in this volume. First, SIBs are able to leverage public funds, enabling them to mobilize large amounts of private investment from relatively limited initial public resources. Second, they can play a stabilizing role: while private financial actors tend to expand credit during booms and restrict it during downturns, exacerbating cyclical swings, SIBs are able to ‘lean against the wind’, playing a countercyclical role.” Dr. Stephany Griffith-Jones, Financial Markets Program Director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) chapter on Rethinking Capitalism, ed. Mazzucato and Jacobs.

To register for the conference follow the links below:

Source: Finance in Common Summit

The 14th AFD International Research Conference on Development, The Visible Hand: Development Banks in Transition, will take place in the framework of the Finance in Common Summit.

In the context of the global crisis linked to Covid-19, the conference will focus on development banks’ key contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to paving the way to a responsible and sustainable recovery. It will be held online.

Academic Days

3-5 November 2020

This workshop will be dedicated to researchers and experts from academia, think tanks and international organizations. Researchers from the International Research Initiative on Public Development Banks (PDBs) working groups will present their findings, covering five key challenges:

• The Characterization of SDG-compatible Investments

• PDBs' Business Models

• Governance

• Financial Regulation

• Global Development Finance Architecture

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Research Conference

9-10 november 2020

The Open Discussion Days will gather researchers, Public Development Banks representatives and other stakeholders, to reflect on the key role development banks could play for building an efficient global development finance architecture.

On 9 and 10 November, the Open Discussion Days will gather researchers, Public Development Banks representatives and other stakeholders to reflect, in the light of the current crisis, on the key role development banks could play for building an efficient global, development-oriented finance architecture.

The online public conference will aim to deliver concrete policy recommendations to decision-makers, on how to scale up development banks’ potential at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and pave the way forward to a more responsible and sustainable recovery of our economic systems. The International Research Initiative on Public Development Banks (PDBs) working groups will present their work and findings.

High-level speakers will include senior officials from development banks, in particular members of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI), as well as renowned economists and researchers.

Nobel Prize in Economics Joseph Stiglitz, and Masood Ahmed, chief executive officer of the CGDev will be keynote speakers.

High-Level Political Segment of the Summit

11 and 12 November

By Invitation only

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RETHINKING CAPITALISM

Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, co-edited by Mariana Mazzucato and Michael Jacobs, (published by Wiley / Political Quarterly, 2016)

Source: ww.wiley.com

Western capitalism is in crisis. For decades investment has been falling, living standards have stagnated or declined, and inequality has risen dramatically. Economic policy has neither reformed the financial system nor restored stable growth. Climate change meanwhile poses increasing risks to future prosperity.

In Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, co-edited by Mariana Mazzucato and Michael Jacobs, (published by Wiley / Political Quarterly, 2016) some of the world’s leading economists propose new ways of thinking about capitalism. The contributors include Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, Chief Economist of the Bank of England Andy Haldane, Professor William Lazonick, Professor Carlota Perez, Mazzucato and many others.

In clear and compelling prose, each chapter shows how today’s deep economic problems reflect the inadequacies of orthodox economic theory and the failure of policies informed by it. The chapters examine a range of contemporary economic issues, including fiscal and monetary policy, financial markets and business behaviour, inequality and privatisation, and innovation and environmental change. The authors set out alternative economic approaches which better explain how capitalism works, why it often doesn’t, and how it can be made more innovative, inclusive and sustainable. Outlining a series of far-reaching policy reforms, Rethinking Capitalism offers a powerful challenge to mainstream economic debate, and new ideas to transform it.

“There are about 450 Public Development Banks (PDBs), in the world. Spread over all continents, with varying sizes, geographies and themes of intervention, these very diverse institutions have a combined total of $11.2 trillion in assets. Despite their global renaissance, their role, functioning and effectiveness are still overlooked, mostly due to a lack of data.” Source: https://financeincommon.org/pdb-database

To Register

Source: financeincommon.org

Under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and with the participation of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, The Finance in Common Summit will also congregate the entire financial community to envision and “design a financial system whereby Public Development Banks have the ability to reorient and leverage all financial flows in the direction of climate and the SDGs”.

Where? The digital platform specially developed for the Finance in Common Summit will allow participants from every region of the planet to access each of the elements that make up the event, from the rich program of plenary discussions and High-Level Events to the dedicated showcase for “PDBs in Action”.

How? Attendance to the Finance in Common Summit is by invitation-only.

Register: You may follow this link to access the form to request your invitation for digital access to the Summit. After review, selected delegates will receive by the end of October an official invitation with their personal code, enabling them to confirm their attendance and then access the online platform on the days of the Summit.