Climate change, biodiversity loss, and degradation of natural systems threaten the economic and social systems that form the core of society. Failing to halt these crises will affect everyone, but especially the poor and marginalized, particularly women. As stewards of a country’s natural resources, governments play a key role, yet few are seriously held accountable. And the ways governments raise and spend public money will have a huge impact on addressing climate breakdown and other environmental decline. Countries can strengthen their environmental stewardship and “green” their budgets and aggressively respond to the impacts on people and communities. Murray Petrie, a technical advisor for the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency joins host Delaine McCullough to share his ideas on stemming the tide of environmental degradation.

For more detail, read Murray’s blog posts.

From the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency’s Blog:  Averting environmental catastrophe: what would real accountability for environmental stewardship look like? And why it has a lot to do with fiscal policy.

From the International Monetary Fund’s Public Finance Management Blog: Better Stewardship can Avert Environmental Catastrophe and High Time for Green Budgeting

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More about the People, Planet and Public Finance podcast

More and more, governments are mobilizing additional funds to deal with climate change and its impacts. For this investment to make a difference, it is vital that leaders ensure that the use of these funds is efficient, effective, and clear of corruption.

To ensure the funds are used properly, engaging people and civil society in climate finance accountability processes and monitoring is crucial for success. Additionally, fair and equitable public policies are more likely to be produced when civil society organizations joined by active, empowered citizens engage governments and state accountability institutions in budget and policy processes.

Furthermore, the most vulnerable members of society to the impacts of climate breakdown must have a voice, alongside governments and other sectors, in planning how to raise and spend financial resources for climate action.

However, since governments are in early stages of establishing the institutions, systems, and practices that govern climate-related finance management, civil society and public participation has been limited. Insights that emerge through new analysis and research of climate finance accountability reforms and civil society engagement is critically important to meaning progress.

Created by the International Budget Partnership and the International Institute for Environment and Development, the People, Planet and Public Finance podcast series will curate and share that new research and analysis, as well as innovative approaches and promising models for responding to the climate-related fiscal accountability challenge.

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© 2019 International Budget Partnership (IBP) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)