By Nicoletta Batini and Miguel Segoviano Denmark aspires to become one of the most climate-friendly countries in the world. In June, its Parliament overwhelmingly passed a new climate law that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, with net zero emissions targeted for 2050. This is an even more ambitious goal than the EU’s target to cut emissions by 55 percent over the same time period. 70% Amount by which Denmark plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 relative to 1990 levels   A new IMF staff paper takes a closer look at Denmark’s gree ..read more

By Kristalina Georgieva and Rajiv J. Shah عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский  Climate change and the COVID-19 crisis have a great deal in common. Both are human tragedies and economic catastrophes: The pandemic has taken more than a million lives, thrown hundreds of millions out of work, and is projected to wipe out $28 trillion in output over the next five years; climate change’s effects, meanwhile, are upending lives and livelihoods. Both crises are most devastating for vulnerable people and communities around the world. And both punish nations for under-preparati ..read more

By Christian Bogmans and Claire Mengyi Li 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский  As the world economy emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the consumption of coal is expected to recover from its sharp decline during the pandemic. Demand for coal remains strong and helps to fuel economic development in emerging markets. Yet many countries, seeking a more sustainable future, have been taking steps to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, especially coal. Obstacles to their efforts have proven difficult to overcome, not least because people who work in the coal industry depend ..read more

By Gita Bhatt When I visit my home country, India, I am always struck by how young it looks. From the big cities to the tiny villages, one can see the hopes and aspirations of twenty-somethings, many in search of work. In Japan, demographic trends have been moving in the opposite direction. Homes sit vacant, and villages are vanishing, as people have fewer children. In response, the Japanese are embracing technology to fill the gaps through innovations like robot chefs and automated medical services. Changes in the size and structure of a nation’s population affect how we work, age, and li ..read more

By Tobias Adrian, James Morsink, and Liliana Schumacher عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский As society braces for the potential havoc a changing climate could induce, it’s vital to gauge the range of shocks that the economy may soon endure. One way to quantify the effects of the potentially systemic shocks that could ripple through the financial system is to administer “stress tests”—a well-designed analytical process that has, for decades, been used by the IMF, World Bank and financial supervisors for detailed scenario planning to prevent future financial crises. Measuring ..read more

By IMFBlog Have you thought about how much garbage you generate every day? Economists have looked at the data and it turns out that higher-income countries like the United States, Denmark, and New Zealand generate at least twice as much waste per capita than developing countries. Our chart of the week from recent research shows which advanced economies generate just how much waste per person. Higher-income people not only consume more goods overall, but they also use up a higher concentration of packaged and complex durable goods like cars, appliances, and electronic equipment. Also, mo ..read more

By IMFBlog Actions speak louder than words. The longer we wait to act on climate change, the greater the loss of life and damage to the world economy. Faced with the ongoing existential threat posed by changes to our climate, the United Nations conference known as COP25 is happening in Madrid, Spain.  Policymakers with ambition and vision can choose what to do and how to do it, right now, globally and at home. Policymakers with ambition and vision can choose what to do and how to do it, right now. The Adaptive Age By Kristalina Georgieva Global Carbon Emissions Are on the Rise Again ..read more

By Christian Bogmans, Akito Matsumoto, and Andrea Pescatori After good progress in the beginning of the decade, global carbon emissions have started to pick up again. This recent trend sets the world on a dangerous path: to slow the pace of climate change, carbon emissions need to be reduced. Our chart of the week from the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook shows that emissions have increased by 1 percent in 2017 and another 2 percent in 2018. China has been a key driver of emission growth since the turn of the century, but its impact has diminished in recent years as investments in renewab ..read more

By Kristalina Georgieva No institution or individual can stand on the sidelines in the fight against climate change When I think of the incredible challenges we must confront in the face of a changing climate, my mind focuses on young people. Eventually, they will be the ones either to enjoy the fruits or bear the burdens resulting from actions taken today. I think of my 9-year-old granddaughter. By the time she turns 20, she may be witness to climate change so profound that it pushes an additional 100 million people into poverty. By the time she turns 40, 140 million may become climate mig ..read more

By Gita Bhatt “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” The quip, attributed to 19th-century American humorist Mark Twain, might describe the current state of play on climate change. In Twain’s day, it was absurd to suppose humans could do anything about the weather. Today, we understand that we can and we must. The changing climate, largely wrought by humans, is bringing rising sea levels, temperature extremes, and more frequent and harsher storms. These threaten to displace lives, livelihoods, and communities, with clear economic consequences, often at a hig ..read more