February 24, 2021
HP4 Workshop image
Above: screenshot of the Helsinki Principle 4 workshop on Economic Modelling

 

On February 24th, 2021, the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action organized a workshop on integrating climate into economic modelling in co-operation with the OECD and the Paris Collaborative. At the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Coalition in October 2020, Ministers tasked the Coalition to explore ways to integrate climate in economic modelling. This workshop is the first event under Helsinki Principle 4 dedicated to economic modelling.

In the first session, the World Bank provided a brief overview of how the development of macroeconomic modelling can support the mainstreaming of climate and environmental effects into economic policies. This was followed by a presentation of the Danish Ministry of Finance’s new macroeconomic model, GreenREFORM. The model’s purpose is to provide assessments of the environmental and climate effects of economic policies, as well as the economic effects of environmental, energy, and climate policies.

The Swiss Federal Department of State and Colombia’s Deputy Minister of Finance led a panel discussion after the presentation to present their feedback based on their own experience in integrating climate considerations in economic modelling. They also highlighted benefits, requirements, challenges, and lessons learned.

The discussion was then opened to all participants and Coalition member countries, where valuable feedback and insights were exchanged. This work will continue; similar events will be organized regularly to ensure progress, taking into account the high importance of modelling in mainstreaming climate to economic policies.