Coordinated international efforts needed to deal with food & energy insecurity, climate change: Sitharaman

Gandhinagar, Jul 17 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday made a strong case for coordinated international efforts to navigate the challenges relating to food, energy insecurity and climate change.

In her opening remarks at the two-day meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) here, Sitharaman said the global economic growth is below its long-term average and remains uneven.

“… We need … coordinated international efforts to navigate this challenging period. In this context, the G20 framework Working Group explored the issue of tackling macroeconomic challenges related to food and energy insecurity, and those related to climate change and transition pathways.

“The policy lessons that have emerged from these issues clearly underpin the need for enhanced international economic cooperation,” the minister said.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Sitharaman said “the future depends on what we do in the present.”

“This statement powerfully conveys the responsibility we have as finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 countries to steer the global economy towards a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive group,” she said.

Moving on to the global health agenda in 2023 with the goal of amplifying the voices of low-income countries, the multi-year work plan of the Joint Finance and Health Task Force was adopted, supported by the guidance from regional organisations, she said.

Based on the mandate provided in the February meeting of FMCBG, she said, the various work streams of the G20 Finance track, have now come out with their deliverables.

“On behalf of the presidency, I take this opportunity to thank the co-chairs of various G20 finance track working groups, the international organisations and the G20 membership for the extraordinary support to the Indian presidency in developing these deliverables despite the stringent timelines,” she said.

Three significant deliverables have been prepared including the framework on economic risks and vulnerabilities, the report on best practices on financial health and institutional arrangements and the report on mapping pandemic response financing options and gaps, she said.