Best Practices in the provision of Global Public Goods by Multilateral Development Banks

The provision and protection of Global Public Goods (GPGs) is key for sustainable development, long-term prosperity and enables secure, free and open societies. However, due to today"s interconnected markets and societies, negative cross-border externalities in the form of "global public bads" such as climate change, conflict & violence, pandemics, unfair trade or unstable financial systems can significantly hamper well-being on a global scale. The relevance of GPGs has been drastically brought (back) to our minds with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 is a clear case of a failure to protect a crucial GPG: global health - or put differently, a clear failure to prevent a global public bad: the spread of the virus with all its social and environmental repercussions and immense economic costs. In the same vein, the call for a global provision of vaccines as a GPG is based on the fact that the pandemic only be defeated once vaccine access is assured globally on a sufficient level. Consequently, endeavors to build back better or recover forward after the pandemic must pivotally entail the provision and protection of GPGs, as a fundamental contribution to prevent further global crises and ensure a better future for people and planet. Simultaneously, the threat of a global climate change crisis and biodiversity collapse is accelerating. Put differently, these health, economic, social, climate change and biodiversity crises are global public bads that are interconnected and hence, require globally-coordinated action. Incentivizing crisis preparedness and prevention in light of cross-border effects of fragile states and bad governance are, hence, increasingly in the focus of development cooperation. The GIZ Sector Project "Multilateral Development Banks for Global Public Goods" advises the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) divisions 403 "World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund and Debt Relief" and 404 "Regional Development Banks". As such, it supports the BMZ and Germany, as one of the largest MDB shareholders, in articulating a development policy perspective on the protection and provision of GPGs, which in turn feeds into the German government"s positioning in multilateral fora, including the Executive Director Offices at relevant MDBs. The studies intend to provide the BMZ with scientifically-based analyses on the provision and protection of GPGs to feed into the work conducted at the World Bank Group and the regional Multilateral Development Banks. The studies should therefore develop recommendations for specific changes in the MDBs" institutional set-up and organizational practices, as well as deliver background information to be used as inputs for the communication with MDBs and wider civil society. Overall 5 studies are supposed to be conducted: 1. Institutional models for the provision and protection of GPGs in MDBs, 2. Best Practices in the provision of GPGs by MDBs, 3. Quantifying economic benefits of GPGs, 4. Dissemination of international standards for the provision of GPGs, 5. Recommendations for the BMZ on how to integrate GPG considerations in development cooperation