IMF using policy to combat climate change

“We cannot win against the climate crisis, [with] each country working on its own,” Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, told 60 Minutes.

Georgieva has been leading new IMF policies that focus on climate change. The environmental economist told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl that among her concerns is the lack of accessible clean water across the world.

“Climate change makes some parts of the planet already not livable because there is no water,” Georgieva told Stahl. “Seventy-five percent of disasters are related to water…recognition that access to water is paramount. And yet, nearly 800 million people don’t have access to drinking water.”

Georgieva said she became interested in the environment and access to clean water after a member of her family got sick from metal contaminants in ground water. As for economics, her passion took root in her native Bulgaria where she studied the discipline. It eventually led her to the World Bank where she worked as an economist, eventually becoming the Chief Executive Officer before taking the top job at the IMF in October 2019. Georgieva told 60 Minutes she wants the IMF to create policies to make water more valuable so less of it is wasted.

You can watch Lesley Stahl’s full interview with IMF Head Kristalina Georgieva below.