IFC Climate Business Strategic Initiatives

On February 2, 2023, we (the HKS CEEPIC DC Trek) had the unique opportunity to visit the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and have a conversation with Vivek Pathak,IFC Director, Global Head Climate Business as well as several of his colleagues. 

The IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. Together with the IBRD, IDA, MIGA, and ICSID, the IFC forms the World Bank Group (WBG). Headquartered in Washington, DC, and with operations in over 100 countries, the IFC has invested more than $321 billion in emerging markets and developing economies with the aim of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Thereby, the IFC focuses on unlocking private investment, creating markets and opportunities where they are needed most (www.ifc.org). 

After a brief presentation by Mr. Pathak, we engaged in a number of discussions as well as Q&A focused on the topics of sustainable growth, skillsets, and working at the IFC. We discussed the inherited challenges of economic growth being dependent on evermore production and consumption and argued that greater circularity had to come. As part of “green growth”, we exchanged views on the crucial role technology has to play and the push for tracking GHG emissions at consumption rather than just production. 

Talking about the work at the IFC, Mr. Pathak shared his view on optimism, realism, and practicality being key skills when working for the IFC. We also talked about the different academic backgrounds working for the IFC, with a much lower focus on PhDs as a prerequisite when compared to the World Bank. Encouraging thoughts were shared by the IFC team sharing that “everything is possible once you get through the door” as well as internal job mobility being a huge part of the organization with people changing roles every 4-5 years. 

Author: Niklas Alexander Krakau, https://www.linkedin.com/in/niklas-krakau/