This online event features as one of several this term which focusses on 'Political economy of European climate action', and is hosted by the European Political Economy Project (EUPEP) at the European Studies Centre.

The international community has signaled approval of a new issue of SDRs by the IMF, which would contribute US$650 billion to the global economy, distributed proportionately by countries’ economic size. The goal is to fight the pandemic and help global recovery. However, critics believe that the planned allocation of the SDRs (where for instance the EU + UK would get about [one-third] of the funds) is not adequately targeted to address the most pressing global needs effectively. Various proposals are emerging that the UK, the EU, and other rich countries should reallocate at least some of the new issue to rebuild ODA budgets, support vaccines and public health in developing countries, and/or boost financing for climate action. However, any proposal would have to overcome various political objections as well as technical obstacles related to the specific nature of the SDR instrument. As the chair of the G7 and the host of COP26, the UK will be at the centre of this debate in the coming months. This seminar examines the issues surrounding the SDR allocation and discusses some possible options.    

Image by fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay

Mark Plant is co-director of development finance, a senior policy fellow, and chief operating officer of CGD Europe. His appointment to CGD follows a long career at the International Monetary Fund, where he was most recently the director of Human Resources. Prior to that, Plant worked extensively with African countries, culminating in his appointment as deputy director of the IMF’s African Department. He also held a range of senior positions in the Strategy, Policy and Review Department, where he had oversight of the IMF’s policies towards low-income countries, including its work on the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Before joining the IMF, Plant held senior positions in the US Department of Commerce and at the General Motors Corporation. He began his career teaching economics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mark Henstridge is Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Policy Management (OPM), which he joined as Chief Economist in 2012. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction of our work in development economics. Before joining OPM, he was Acting Executive Director of the International Growth Centre (IGC), an initiative funded by DFID at LSE and the University of Oxford. Earlier, he was Head of Macroeconomics at BP, and has previously worked in the African and Fiscal Affairs Departments of the International Monetary Fund, on Mali, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria and Egypt. He has also worked in Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Planning. He has a DPhil from the University of Oxford, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and a BSc from Bristol University. He is a Research Associate of the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource-Rich Economies at the University of Oxford.

Stevan Lee is the Acting Chief Economist of Oxford Policy Management (OPM).  He was previously head of economic research at DFID and a senior economist at DFID and the World Bank.  He has extensive in-country advisory experience, including nine years’ residency in East African countries, also in the Middle East.  He has worked on aid policy around budget support. He is interested in the pro-cyclical nature of aid.  And he has extensive sector experience. He has a PhD from Nottingham, an MA from Manchester and a BSc from London School of Economics.   

This event will be chaired by Adrienne Cheasty (St Antony's College, Oxford).

This event is taking place online using Zoom. The link to REGISTER via Zoom is available by clicking HERE.

For any further assistance please email: esc-webinar@sant.ox.ac.uk or julie.adams@sant.ox.ac.uk