Frankfurt School representative participates in advice platform for G20 leaders

Frankfurt School’s Director of Corporate Development, Dr Matthias Catón, who is also Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the Indo-German Centre for Business Excellence, recently participated in the T20 Summit in Mysore, India. T20, or Think20, is a G20 engagement group consisting of distinguished scholars and thought leaders from around the world. Operating independently of national governments, the T20 strives to furnish G20 leaders with policy recommendations rather than promoting specific agendas.

Matthias Catón is Co-Chair of T20’s Task Force 5, which deals with Reassessing the Global Financial Order. At the Summit, the task forces presented their findings ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit of Heads of State and Heads of Government that will take place in Delhi on 9 and 10 September 2023.

Task Force 5 deliberated on how the global financial architecture can be made fit-for-purpose for the 21st century. The global financial architecture—dominated by international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and the Bank for International Settlements—needs reforms to reflect the realities of contemporary times. Greater access to development finance, such as climate finance, infrastructure finance, and social sector investments, is more important than ever. The widening financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate adaptation requires proactive actions at the multilateral level, including at the G20.

Three outcomes that are central to a credible new framework for change are: 1) a quantum leap in financial flows; 2) a significant reduction in the cost and variability of capital; and 3) fundamental implementation steps, including governance reforms. These outcomes can be achieved through official capital including MDBs and debt frameworks, private sector capital, and financial innovations. The full findings report can be found here.

Matthias Catón also spoke on the panel “Taking Stock: 2030 Energy Outlook and Implications for Global Net Zero Emissions”; Session recording on YouTube.