Too Global To Fail: The World Bank at the Intersection of National and Global Public Policy in 2025 (Directions in Development)

Too Global to Fail: The World Bank at the Intersection of National and Global Public Policy in 2025 analyzes the issue of global public goods, particularly those related to the environment, in the context of the global development process. Long-term sustainability of development is at stake, as the distinction between developing and developed countries in their approaches to environmental issues is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This study contends that global sustainability depends on and even consists of the provision of certain global public goods and that the prevailing approach to development assistance does not sufficiently recognize this fact. A key question is whether the country-ownership model is even compatible with global sustainability. A second key question is whether the political will exists to make the provision of global public goods an explicit and central objective of official development assistance. A third key question concerns the mobilization and use of resources for the World Bank's work to support the provision of global public goods. The World Bank is a major player on many regional and global issues, but its work at these levels is usually enabled by donor contributions, most often in the form of grants targeted at narrow, particular purposes. The editors of Too Global to Fail believe that international development assistance needs to undergo a major transition in order to take as one of its explicit and principal objectives the provision of global public goods important for development. The World Bank can play a leadership role in this transition, working within new kinds of coalitions but not abandoning the fundamentals of its operating model. The World Bank can also play a unique role in stimulating the private provision of global public goods through risk sharing and market creation.-- Provided by Publisher

This report is about global public goods (GPGs), particularly those related to the environment, in the context of the global development process. This concerns the long-term sustainability of development, as the distinction between developing and developed countries is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This report contends that global sustainability depends (indeed, consists of) the provision of certain GPGs, and that the prevailing approach to development assistance does not sufficiently recognize this fact. A key question is whether the country-ownership model is even compatible with global sustainability. A second key question is whether the political will exists to make the provision of GPGs an explicit and central objective of official development assistance, especially in the face of objections from those who believe aid should be solely concerned with the eradication of poverty through national or community-level interventions. A third key question concerns the mobilization and use of resources for the World Bank's work to support the provision of GPGs. The Bank is a major player on many regional and global issues, but its work at these levels is usually enabled by donor contributions, most often in the form of grants, targeted for a particular purpose. International development assistance needs to undergo a major transition, such that it takes as an explicit and principal objective the provision of GPGs important for development. The World Bank can play a leadership role in this transition, working within new kinds of coalitions but not abandoning the fundamentals of its operating model. Some of the most important GPGs are provided through the separate and cumulative actions of multiple countries, so the challenge for the Bank is to find ways of investing strategically and sharing knowledge across countries, while keeping faith with their national development strategies, so as to achieve maximum global impacts. The World Bank can also play a unique role in stimulating the private provision of GPGs through risk-sharing and market creation.

Front Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- About the Contributors -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Notes -- References -- PART 1 The Future of Global Public Goods -- Chapter 2 Global Public Goods and International Development -- State, Regional, and Global Development -- Public Goods and Development -- Global Public Goods and Sovereignty -- Global Public Goods for Development -- The World Bank's Role in Promoting Global Public Goods -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 3 Environmental Sustainability as a Development Issue: The Evolution of an Idea -- Evolution of the International Environmental Agenda -- World Bank Sustainable Development Institutional Framework -- The World Bank and Environmental Global Public Goods -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 4 The Future Is Now: Scenarios to 2025 and Beyond -- Population and Economic Growth Projections -- Natural Resource and Climate Scenarios -- Biodiversity -- Water Resources -- Oceans -- Climate Change -- Some Indications of Progress -- Drilling Down: The Resource Scarcity Dilemma -- Technology: The Planet's Salvation? -- Notes -- References -- PART 2 Financing Global Public Goods -- Chapter 5 Something's Gotta Give: Aid and the Financing of Global Public Goods -- Global Public Goods for Development -- A Trend Analysis -- The Changing Context for Aid -- GPGs versus the standard aid policy narrative -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 6 Aiding Global Public Policy: Rethinking Rationales and Roles -- Revising the Rationale for Aid and Redefining ODA -- The Multilateral GPG Delivery System -- A Way Forward -- Conclusions -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 7 Financing Global Public Goods at Scale -- The Problem: Public Credit Alone Cannot Meet the Biggest Challenges