Jakob Skovgaard on How the IMF Addresses Climate Change

Published 21 January 2025

In a new open-access article published in Review of International Studies, Jakob Skovgaard explores how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has integrated climate risks into its surveillance of countries’ economies and policies.

This integration involves reframing climate as an economic issue and assessing countries' actions to address:

Physical risks of climate change,
Transition risks from phasing out fossil fuels, and
The risks posed by emissions to global growth and stability.

This redefinition of IMF boundaries matters because IMF surveillance influences the interest rates countries pay on public debt. The analysis highlights how IMF staff navigated member states' differing preferences on integrating climate considerations into the IMF's economic mandate.

Link to the article: Economisation as boundary work: Integrating climate change into IMF surveillance

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2024, pp. 1-20

Author: Jakob Skovgaard - Lund University