The FiCS Plenary Session on 12 November was an opportunity to highlight the capacity for concrete action by PDBs, in application of government directives and in the service of just transition. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, was joined by Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of the Republic of Costa Rica; Alberto Fernandez, President of Argentina; Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD; Alok Sharma, President of the COP26; and Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission; with closing remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The second part of the Plenary Session focused on the announcement of the Joint Declaration and featured Thabo Thamane, Chairman, World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI)  & CEO, CEDA; Rémy Rioux, Chair, International Development Finance Club (IDFC) & CEO, Agence Française de Développement (AFD); Bandar Hajjar, President, Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) & 2020 Chair, Heads of MDB Meetings; and Werner Hoyer, President, European Investment Bank (EIB).

The third part of the Plenary Session, examining how the community of PDBs interacts with the wider finance ecosystem, featured Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group (AfDB); Kate Hampton, CEO, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF); Iara Pietricovsky, Chair, FORUS International (International Forum of NGO platforms); and John Denton, Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

With the Joint Declaration presented during the Plenary Session, the Public Development Banks expressed their commitment to support the transformation of the economy and societies towards sustainable and resilient development. In particular, they committed to aligning their financing with the Paris Agreement; to move away from coal; to act in favour of biodiversity; to take better account of the fight against inequalities, particularly between women and men; and to take into account human rights-based approaches and to apply the most demanding environmental and social standards.

Through this Declaration, the Public Development Banks commit themselves to forming a global coalition determined to promote cooperation and to act coherently in the service of the planet and its populations.

The Declaration was signed by all ten PDB associations, representing some 400 PDBs, as well as six multilateral banks — the three European MDBs (the Council of Europe Development Bank [CEB]; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD]; and the European Investment Bank [EIB]) along with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB); the African Development Bank [AfDB]; and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The five other MDBs signed the Declaration in the “In the presence of…” category: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); the New Development Bank (NDB); the Asian Development Bank (ADB); the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); and the World Bank. Many other international organizations also added their signature in the “In the presence of…” category: the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the European Commission; the UN Development Programme (UNDP); the UN Environment Programme (UNEP): the  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); the Green Climate Fund; the Global Center on Adaptation; and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

> View the Joint Declaration of All Public Development Banks in the World
> View the additional statements from specific coalitions of Public Development Banks