The President of EMEA, Prof. Rym Ayadi has co-signed an open letter published in the Washington Post, The Economist & Valor Economico, calling on G20 Leaders to transform our financial system and make it work for people and planet. The letter has been signed by over 100 former leaders, activists, academics and artists. The full content of the letter is the following:
Dear G20 leaders,
80 years ago, in the shadow of World War II, your predecessors met in the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods. There they devised the institutions of world finance: the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The experiment was imperfect. But the founding ideals of the system were explicit: prosperity was a means to peace; wealth would serve the common good. For the first time, in the aftermath of war, people felt a sense of optimism. “It is a wonderful thing,” wrote Keynes, “to taste hope again”.
80 years on, we need another Bretton Woods moment. The world is rocked by conflict, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and spiraling inflation. All of which are compounded by the devastation wrought by climate change. The Sustainable Development
Goals are under threat. Too many feel scarcity, austerity, despair.
This is your chance. The institutions of world finance have lost their muscle. You can be the leaders who bring them into the 21st century. You can unlock the colossal public and private investment potential of renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and climate adaptation. You can invest in a better, bigger fund for people and planet: the International Development Association (IDA). You can fix the broken repayment systems that weigh on economic development. You can reform the tax regimes that give polluters impunity, and make those with the most resources pay a fair share.
Removing burdensome debt allows countries to invest in their people and their future: in resilience, education, health, and nutrition. This drives growth and creates strong partners to trade with. When people live free from hunger and gender discrimination, they are also free to invent, spend, and start businesses. Each of us stands to gain from stability, lower food and energy costs, and nature protection.
Change is already underway. The architects of the World Bank and the IMF earned their place in history. This is your chance to fulfil their promise: to transform these instruments for peace and prosperity and truly set them to work in our common interest.
Triple the investment. End crippling debt. Make polluters pay.
It’s time to taste hope again.
Please check https://www.globalgoals.org/dearg20/
