DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund on the Transfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries) NINETY-SIXTH MEETING WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 14, 2017 DC/S/2017-0037 October 14, 2017 Statement by H.E Gerd Müller Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Germany Statement by H.E. Gerd Müller Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Germany 96th Meeting of the Development Committee October 14, 2017 Washington, D.C. The recent floods and hurricanes in South Asia, the Caribbean and the United States of America have shown that climate change is ever more frequently having an ever more severe impact on us. And it is the poor who generally suffer most from the impact of natural risks and extreme weather events. Climate change, inequality, poverty, crises and conflicts are global phenomena that know no borders. They are challenges that can only be met through intense and effective international cooperation. The 2030 Agenda – our pact on the world's future – shows us the way. That is why it is in all our interests to strengthen the World Bank. Two years ago, in Lima, we adopted an ambitious programme to create a better and bigger bank. The World Bank Group is the largest source of development funding in the world and so expectations are high. It is now our task as shareholders to ensure that the Bank can fulfil its role. If we want to achieve all we announced in Lima, the Bank will need to do more rather than less. That is why the Bank needs to commit more funding again rather than less, as is currently the trend. That is why I believe that the capital increase is urgently needed. We should continue to endeavour to put together a package of measures to strengthen IBRD's and IFC's financial capacities by the Spring Meeting in 2018. We welcome the progress made on implementing the Forward Look, with the ultimate aim of creating a better and bigger bank. With the Hamburg principles and the cascade approach, the Bank has embarked on a paradigm shift. The World Bank and multilateral banks should increasingly take on the role of facilitating private sector finance. That is the only way to fulfil the pledge made in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda ("billions to trillions"). But we should not be satisfied solely with that mobilising effect. As important as it is to explore new avenues and create markets, it also remains vital to remain on the path mapped out by the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement. Mobilising the private sector is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It is crucial to create sustainable and inclusive opportunities as defined by the 2030 Agenda, particularly in Africa. My priorities therefore include implementing the Marshall Plan with Africa and the Compact with Africa. There needs to be a special focus on investment in the education-training-employment nexus. Serious efforts need to be made to promote the private sector and investments and to develop infrastructure in order to generate value and create jobs. Our partners must also be called upon to make their own contributions. The World Bank is a vital player and partner in implementing these important initiatives. It is only by working together with our African partners and with the World Bank and IMF as key international institutions that we can achieve our aim of improving the conditions for the private sector in Africa. It is the core task of the World Bank – and, as a global institution, it is ideally suited to that task – to help ensure that global and regional public goods are adequately available to all. The contribution that the World Bank Group and the multilateral banks are making to climate financing and the 100 billion US dollar goal is therefore of great significance. Development will increasingly be taking place against a backdrop of crises and disasters. Soon the vast majority of people living in poverty will be in fragile regions at high risk of crisis. The best way to facilitate sustainable development is by increased prevention and resilience efforts. That means helping people, communities and countries to better deal with shocks and uncertainty. Development needs to be made crisis-proof. One example of that is the partnership to improve the financing and insurance available to cover climate-related and disaster-related risks, on which Germany is working together with the World Bank and other partners. As the “knowledge bank”, the World Bank is at the forefront of analysis of crisis situations. The Bank should draw on that knowledge to help facilitate earlier, more precise and more effective action so as to prevent crises having a disastrous humanitarian impact. The Bank has the instruments to pave the way for sustainable development, even in vulnerable countries. I encourage it to work closely with the United Nations to continue addressing the underlying causes of crises. 2