The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have launched a joint high-level advisory group to help secure a total recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

The organisations, Tuesday, launched a High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth to help secure a strong recovery and set a path for green, resilient, and inclusive development over the coming decade.

The group which comprised of experts from research institutions, private sector, and governments, will be jointly chaired by Mari Pangestu, Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank; Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, International Monetary Fund; and Lord Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics.

The group is tasked to set out practical proposals in two phases:

First, focus on the immediate challenge of a sustainable and inclusive recovery to inform the processes and meetings in 2021 leading up to the G20 Summit in Rome (October) and the COP26 in Glasgow (November).

Second, deepen the analyses and formulation of actions for sustained transformation in 2022.

Commenting on the development, World Bank Group President, David Malpass, said: “the poor and most vulnerable have been hit hardest by COVID-19, as well as climate change, and other challenges. I look forward to this High-Level Advisory Group offering new ideas for impactful action, both at country-level and globally, to foster green, resilient and inclusive development and help developing countries get back on track to reduce poverty and inequality.”

In the same vein, IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, said: “The world faces two huge crises—the pandemic, and the climate emergency—that demands radical and coordinated action. Through policy analysis and practical proposals, the High-Level Advisory Group will play a key role in this effort, and I look forward to this important collaboration.”

Other experts in the group are:

Philippe Aghion, Centennial Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, at the Collège de France, and at INSEAD;
Montek Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India;
Masood Ahmed, President, Center for Global Development;
Timothy Besley, School Professor of Economics and Political Science, London School of Economics and Political Science;
Sir W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science;
Amar Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow, Center for Sustainable Development;
Laurence Boone, Chief Economist and Head of the Economics Department, OECD;
Ottmar Edenhofer, Professor of the Economics of Climate Change, Technical University of Berlin and Director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research;
Gita Gopinath, Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the IMF;
Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution;
Eliana La Ferrara, Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi Chair in Development Economics, Bocconi University;
Joaquim Levy, Director for Economic Strategy and Market Relations at Banco Safra S.A., former Finance Minister, Brazil;
Zhu Min, former Deputy Managing Director, IMF;
Maria Ramos, Chair, AngloGold Ashanti Limited and former CEO of Absa Group Limited;
Carmen Reinhart, Vice President of Development Economics and World Bank Group Chief Economist;
Andres Velasco, Professor of Public Policy and Dean, School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science.