18th International Finance Forum to begin in Guangzhou, China
The virtual 18th annual International Finance Forum summit will run from today until Monday hosted in Guangzhou, China.
Established in 2003 in collaboration with the US, EU and UN, the IFF claims to be a non-profit and separate from the Chinese Communist Party. However, its sponsors include China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank – both of which manage high-interest loans from developing countries as part of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The theme this year is sustainable development amidst the pandemic and climate crisis— with specific focus on inflation, debt, vaccine access and green energy.
China and the US, who are both at odds over human rights, trade and Taiwan, unexpectedly agreed at COP26 to cut their methane emissions. Yet, it is unclear whether today’s attendees will convene on the BRI’s environmental impact, which is causing extensive deforestation and destruction of wildlife habitats in its host nations.
In the short-term, expect progress on the summit’s issues to be minimal at this China-led forum. Although China has agreed to cut back on fossil fuels, it dodged the methane pledge. In the medium-term as Chinese-led infrastructure projects continue the environmental damage will only worsen as coal remains an industry staple.
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