Claire Peraldi Decitre

The macro-criticality of climate is increasingly evident in, among others, economic losses from extreme weather events, shifting trade and financial flows, and investments in resilience.

The 2025 IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington arrive at a pivotal moment for the global economy and climate agenda. With COP30 in Belém now just weeks away, the choices made by ministers, central bankers and international financial institutions will directly shape whether climate ambition can be financed at the scale required.

In the twenty-first century, climate change, emergent technologies, and geopolitical tensions require novel and agile approaches to safeguard financial stability and economic growth. Despite the speed of change, overarching lessons can be learned from past economic disruptions to better inform current choices. In this briefing, we draw six key risk areas from past macroeconomic and financial shocks and demonstrate that climate change acts as a risk multiplier in each case.