IMF hangs gloomy U.S forecast on Earth Day
Happy Earth Day. Today marks 55 years since the first celebration under President Richard Nixon.
In today’s edition:
— Downbeat IMF forecast casta a shadow over spring meetings
— UK energy summit and the bid to weaken Brexit
— Four climate solutions for Earth Day change makers
— How earth’s top economies generate electricity — a widely differing mix
— Earth Day protests against White House policies in full swing
It was only two short years ago that the spring meetings of global finance leaders in Washington D.C. were brimming with excitement over the prospects for climate-battered poorer countries to finally get some relief from wealthier, polluting nations as Ajay Banga made his debut before taking the reins of the World Bank
This week finance leaders meet at the event hosted by the World Bank and International Monetary Find in gloom and fear as the institutions try to scrape through the meetings without igniting the wrath of the nearby White House.
Banja himself said recently he didn’t know if the U.S. would continue paying into funds that help poorer countries boost their economies and defend against a change in climate they themselves did not cause. Indeed, none of the leaders of the two institutions even know if the White House will continue to support them, at least not without a radical scrapping of their climate and debt-relief agendas.
The gloom was further deepened earlier today when the IMF published its latest global economic outlook, knocking its forecast for U.S. growth this year to 1.8% from 2.7% just three months ago before the change in administrations.
The IMF said President Donald Trump’s April 2 Rose Garden announcement of tariffs against almost every country in the world forced it to “jettison” a higher forecast and slash its U.S. growth outlook.
All eyes will be on U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for hints of the near-term fate of U.S. support for the two institutions, with some worrying the U.S. might pull out altogether.
A far cry from the optimism of two years ago and an ominous concern for those planning the UN’s annual climate summit in Brazil later this year.
As the hundreds of financial leaders do their best to keep a low profile while also meeting and partying in springtime D.C., and debate just how low the new U.S. will go in global aid, the only redeemable signs of optimism can be found in the fact that recent history shows just how quickly the pendulum can swing.
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Energy security deals and the campaign to weaken Brexit
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