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to do so. In Peru, we were able to sign a deal for 4.8 cents per kilowatt hour, and in Mexico, IFC, our private sector group, just closed a deal for solar that went for a cost of 3.2 cents per kilowatt hour. In Vietnam and Pakistan, we are trying to respond with great urgency, asking leaders of both countries to reconsider renewable sources of energy if we and others can help bring down the price of renewables. Moreover, solar and wind power can be provided much more quickly than coal fired power – months instead of years – meaning that increased access to electricity for voters can happen in “this” political cycle, not the next.What is holding us back? We still do not have agreement on how the pledged financial resources for COP 21 will be used and we will need help from donors if we are to provide more concessional financing to countries like Pakistan and Vietnam. Conversations are happening but the window to move on these mitigation measures in time to reach our targets is closing very quickly. On the threat of pandemics, a survey of 30,000 insurance industry experts around the world found that pandemics topped the list of extreme long-term risks that matter most for the insurance industry. The Ebola epidemic and now the Zika pandemic have reminded all of us that we are nowhere near prepared enough for a faster-moving pandemic. What would happen if a pandemic as swift and lethal as the Spanish Flu of 1918 struck today? Modelers have shown that it would be found in all of the world’s urban centers within two months, and could lead to tens of millions of deaths and a loss of as much as 5 per cent of global GDP – or roughly US$4 trillion dollars.We have been asked by Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Abe of Japan, and other leaders to work on crafting a financing mechanism for a pandemic response. We knew we needed 1) sources of finance that can be mobilized quickly; 2) country health systems that are able to respond to outbreaks; and 3) a level of international coordination that we haven’t had to date. Over the last year, we have brought together members of seven different World Bank Group teams – experts in the fields of health, agriculture, the private sector, treasury operations, development finance, insurance, and communications – to work closely with the World Health Organization and other UN agencies, infectious disease modelers, reinsurance companies, supply chain experts, governments and civil society groups. They have been designing what we are calling the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, which we are planning to launch later this spring.This new facility will fill a lethal gap in the international financing system that was exposed by the Ebola crisis. To fight Ebola, it took many months after the initial recognition of the outbreak for the world to mobilize a large-scale disaster response. Now, we will have a system that uses an innovative, insurance-based mechanism, with a pre-determined and transparent set of criteria that will activate a response. ■Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, delivered the above remarks (an excerpt) on 5 April 2016 at the German Institute for Economic Research/DIW, in Berlin, Germany. Visit www.worldbank.org for the full version of Dr Kim’s remarks.Pictured: Dr Jim Yong KimPhoto Credit: World Bank CollectionFINANCE AND INVESTMENT 045
