G20

• BEIJING, June 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- China would continue to take practical steps to support its fellow developing countries, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Friday at the closing ceremony of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris.
• Leaders attending the summit called for joint efforts to combat climate change, protect biodiversity, address the debt problems of developing countries and promote sustainable development around the world.
• Wealthy nations have finalized an overdue $100 billion climate finance pledge to developing countries and created a fund for biodiversity and the protection of forests, Macron said on Friday.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the current global financial system exacerbates inequalities, denying the poorest countries the credit and debt support they need and deserve.

• The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today published two Final Reports including guidelines on the central counterparties (CCPs) Resolution Regime under the CCP Recovery and Resolution Regulation (CCPRRR).
• This publication follows that of the Commission Delegated Regulations 2023/1193 on the content of resolution plans[1] and 2023/1192 on resolution colleges[2].

Next steps

The Final Reports take into account responses received to the two Public Consultations published in May 2022. ESMA also sought the advice of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group. The Guidelines will apply following their publication by ESMA on its website in the relevant official languages of the European Union.   Further information:

Sarah Edwards 

• Led by South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, the delegation included leaders and senior officials from Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Egypt, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia.
• Their plan was based on establishing a ceasefire “through negotiations and diplomatic means”.
• An earlier initiative by the Vatican was rejected by Zelensky immediately after his meeting with Pope Francis on May 13.

The China card

• Officially announced on February 24 2023, the first anniversary of the invasion, western leaders were not particularly enthusiastic – but did not reject it out of hand either.
• Zelensky signalled cautious optimism about China’s engagement in mediation after his hour-long phone call with Xi at the end of April.

West still favour’s Kyiv plan

• The western favourite, so far, remains the Ukrainian peace plan.
• This was first presented as a five-point plan by Zelensky at the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2022.
• Then, and also at the May 2023 G7 summit in Hiroshima, Zelensky proposed further discussions at a global peace summit.

Mutual distrust

• Notwithstanding these problems, pressure on both sides to start negotiating an end to the war will continue to grow.
• The African peace mission was significantly motivated by the fact that the countries on the continent have massively suffered from the economic consequences of the war.
• These are extremely important engagements because they create incentives for Beijing not to throw its full weight behind Moscow.
• The more successful Ukraine’s counteroffensive, the stronger its position in the run-up to negotiations and at the negotiation table.

• The aim is also to contribute to the international agenda on development and climate financing, a few months after the UN climate summit, COP27, left a mixed record.
• Many developing countries are having to reckon with an ever-growing number of natural hazards, at a time of acute socio-economic vulnerability.
• However, the financial situations of developing countries vary: some, such as Sri Lanka, Ghana and Suriname, already have unsustainable public debt that needs to be restructured.

Increasingly complex debt restructuring

• On top of ad hoc restructuring for countries facing particular constraints, several debt restructuring or suspension initiatives were launched in 2000 in response to more widespread debt situations.
• In response to this new international context, the G20 countries have set up a “Common Framework for Debt Treatment”, enabling countries eligible for the DSI to request a restructuring of their debt in case of persistent financing deficits.
• However, the global framework for debt restructuring has so far had little impact on climate issues, with climate investment often an afterthought.

Vulnerable countries in demand

• As a result, several countries called for reform of this financial architecture at the UN General Assembly in 2021, in particular by asking for debt restructuring to be linked to climate objectives.
• This call was echoed at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, notably by the V20 countries (vulnerable twenty group).
• Now comprising 58 nations, the group accounts for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and yet are at the receiving end of climate change.

Even more complexity?

• At the end of the 76th annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF in October 2022, the G7, joined by Australia, the Netherlands and Switzerland, set out its proposals for reforming the World Bank.
• Much indicates 2023 will be a year of reform for development finance, with many events slated to reflect on these issues.
• Institutions, both international (IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organisation, etc.)