by Andreas von Warburg

“An Inconvenient Truth,” the Oscar-winning documentary on global warming starring former US vice-president Al Gore, is positively influencing the new leadership at the United Nations. Global warming, according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, poses the same dangers as war and awareness is finally growing.

“Even amongst the broader public, climate change is no longer an ‘inconvenient’ issue, it is an inescapable reality,” Ban said. “As participants in the global carbon-based economy, all of us are part of this grave and growing problem. Now, each one of us also needs to commit to the search for solutions. We have to change the way we live, and rethink the way we travel and transact business.”

Ban said that much more must also be done by Governments, business and civil society. “This June, I plan to attend the summit meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations, known as the G-8, where I shall discuss the issue of climate change with global leaders,” he said. “The world needs a more coherent system of international environmental governance. We need to invest more in green technologies and smarter policies. And we need to do far more to adapt to global warming and its effects. There are growing opportunities for innovative businesses to spur progress and innovation through products that push all of us onto more sustainable paths.”

Not surprisingly, Ban’s message comes a few days after  “An Inconvenient Truth” won the Oscar for best documentary. The movies shows a very passionate Gore emphasizing the risks related to global warming on climate stability and balance. It represents a stinging rebuttal to the dwindling and increasingly discredited band of skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the extent of climate change and often tame important scientific data.

“We are all complicit in the process of global warming. Unsustainable practices are deeply entrenched in our everyday lives. But in the absence of decisive measures, the true cost of our actions will be borne by succeeding generations, starting with yours,” Ban said, echoing Gore’s words. “The danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming.”

Source: IMF/World Bank Press Release
 
Edited Press Release - Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank Group, today welcomed the report by the External Review Committee on IMF-World Bank Collaboration, saying they endorsed the positive message that close cooperation between the two institutions is key to delivering services more effectively and efficiently to their 185 member countries, as past and present efforts have proven.

The Committee’s Chairman, Pedro Malan, Chairman of the Board of Unibanco and a former Minister of Finance of Brazil, and Committee member William McDonough, Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch and a former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said the Bank and Fund are the only two international financial institutions with near universal membership. They have an important role to play in providing global public goods and in helping countries obtain the benefits of globalization, as well as handle the pressures it creates. While the Bank and Fund have separate mandates, they are inherently linked and close collaboration is vital. Indeed, the costs to members of poor collaboration would be significant. The report’s main recommendations are to: 

• Strengthen the culture of collaboration by having the Bank and Fund Governors, Executive Boards and management set good examples for the staffs, and creating a standing Bank-Fund Board working group to actively promote and monitor collaboration;
• Promote staff exchanges between the two institutions;
• Develop a new “Understanding on Collaboration”—a high-level framework—approved by both Boards of Governors;
• Strengthen cooperation on crisis management;
• Improve integration and harmonization of work on fiscal issues;
• Clarify the Fund’s role in low-income countries;
• Continue to improve collaboration on financial sector issues, with the Fund taking the lead where there are significant domestic or global stability issues, and the Bank where financial sector development issues are paramount;
• Better coordinate the delivery of technical cooperation, avoiding “distortions” in either the demand or delivery, and being responsive to the needs of the countries;
• Make procedural changes to be more flexible in mobilizing resources and services for member countries;
• Monitor progress of collaboration by having management of the institutions report periodically to their Boards and to their Governors.

Source: European Union Press Release

Since the Commission launched its single market initiative in 1985, the European Union has come a long way in turning the four freedoms - the free movement of people, goods, services and capital - into reality. This has brought major gains for European citizens and businesses. Building on these achievements, the report sets out a vision for the single market of the 21st century and highlights the main directions to make it work better in the interest of: 

• citizens and consumers: more can be done to improve confidence in the quality of products and services and to pass on the gains accrued from the single market to consumers.
• an integrated economy: the spread of the Euro, the move towards a single European labour market and the integration of network industries should contribute to the further integration of the EU economy, making it easier for individuals and companies to engage in cross-border activities.
• a knowledge society: the single market should increasingly focus on making markets for knowledge- and technology-intensive goods and services work better and stimulate higher levels of innovation.
• a well-regulated Europe: the dismantling of barriers went hand in hand with the establishment of new rules. The benefits of the single market will be limited if the rules are not correctly applied, and if the rights created are not satisfactorily upheld and redressed.
• a sustainable Europe: recognising the social and environmental aspects of the single market are key conditions for gaining public confidence, and they are both investments in Europe's future quality of life.