IMF hails PM as ‘global mover and shaker’ for climate finance breakthrough

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has been praised by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva for her groundbreaking advocacy in climate finance, fundamentally reshaping international financial frameworks.

Speaking at the Caribbean High-Level Forum on Managing the Energy Transition on Tuesday, Georgieva credited Mottley with a landmark achievement: convincing the international community to recognise vulnerability to climate shocks as a criterion for concessional financing.

“Mia Mottley is a mover and a shaker in a global sense,” Georgieva told attendees at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. “At the IMF, the international community until 2021 did not recognise that vulnerability to climate shocks should be a criterion for concessional finance. It was Mia that championed that.”

The IMF official highlighted how Mottley’s representation led to the establishment of new financial tools, notably the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). This mechanism enables vulnerable countries to access concessional financing for climate-related investments.

“[That was] the first time in the history of international finance when vulnerable middle-income countries have access to concessional finance so they can support their own transformation,” Georgieva added.

Established in 2021, the RST helps low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries build resilience to external shocks, ensuring sustainable growth and contributing to longer-term balance of payments stability. The trust complements the IMF’s existing lending toolkit by providing longer-term, affordable financing to address challenges including climate change and pandemic preparedness. (SM)