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9 October 2020 |
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Confronting Planetary Emergencies - Solving Human Problems
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The Covid-19 epidemic has shown how a health emergency can provoke severe economic consequences across the planet. The deep interconnectedness and interdependence of global systems means that any local crisis can rapidly scale up to contribute to planetary environmental, social, economic, and political emergencies. The climate, economic, geopolitical, and social emergencies also interact with and amplify each other.
The economic system is inherently intricate and interlinked through financial markets, global supply chains, social networks and a shared ecological foundation. Complex interactions at the individual level give rise to emergent properties at the macro level. Such a system is subject to crises and cascading failures, which can emerge from a variety of sources including financial crises, natural disasters, geo-political tension, cyber-attacks and pandemics. These risks are amplified by several overarching trends: the intensification of inequality, the hyper-complexity of finance, the rise of digitalisation, concentration of critical capacities and monopolisation and environmental emergencies such as climate change and biodiversity loss. These are not only raising the frequency and intensity of certain shocks, but enabling their impacts to cascade from system to system.
Addressing these problems may need new systemic approaches, new economic thinking and a greater focus on resilience, safeguards and buffers. Building on the 2018 and 2019 conferences on 10 Years After the Crisis and Averting Systemic Collapse, the 2020 meeting of the NAEC Group will discuss the possible changes in analysis and action needed to tackle planetary emergencies and global-scale systemic challenges. Representatives of OECD Committees and Directorates will examine how Member countries are responding to the current pandemic and how prepared we are to confront future planetary emergencies.
> For external participants : NAEC@oecd.org
> For OECD staff: Register
> For OECD delegates: Register
Background documents
- Note to Journalists
- Beyond Growth: Towards a New Economic Approach
- The Financial System
- Systemic Thinking for Policy Making
- NAEC Conference "Averting Systemic Collapse"
- A Systemic Approach to Dealing with Covid-19 and Future Shocks
- Resilience Strategies and Approaches to Contain Systemic Threats
- NAEC - Rejuvenating the Debate
Speakers
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Michael D. Higgins |
Esther Duflo |
Thomas Piketty |
Kersti Kaljulaid |
Barry Lynn |
Gillian Tett |
Andy Haldane |
John Cochrane |
Kenneth Rogoff |
Draft Agenda
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Opening Remarks |
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| 9:30-10:00 |
Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary-General - opening speech Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland - opening speech |
| PART I: Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery | |
| Session 1: New Economic Thinking and Acting after Covid-19 | |
| 10:00-11:30 |
Speakers:
Background materials: |
| 11:30-11:45 | Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia |
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Session 2: NAEC - Rejuvenating the Debate |
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| 11:45-12:30 |
Since its establishement in 2012, NAEC has catalysed a debate across the OECD and beyond on how to revise, update and improve policy thinking and action. The Initiative involving Committees, Directorates and representatives of Member Governments, has evolved through three phases. Phase one was the horizontal project phase focused on Lessons from the Financial Crisis (2012-16). Phase two Systems Thinking, Anticipation and Resilience highlighted the interconnectedness, complexity and fragility of human‑made systems and developed resilience frameworks to manage shocks as part of policies and strategies for Averting Systemic Collapse. Phase three launches as part of the recovery from Covid-19 and will focus on moving from analysis and diagnoses of systemic challenges to policy alternatives. This involves tightening the links between NAEC and Committees, Directorates and Members. It builds on the key strengths of NAEC in 1.) promoting new economic narratives and paradigms, 2.) building systemic resilience of human-made systems and 3.) developing new analytical tools and techniques to simulate crises. Moderator: Leslie Harroun, Senior Advisor, Partners for a New Economy (P4NE) Speakers:
Background materials: |
| Part II: A Systemic Response to the Crisis | |
| 14:00-14:10 | Introductory remarks: Tyler Goodspeed, Acting Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers |
| Session 3: Lessons from Covid-19 to Address Future Threats | |
| 14:10-16:15 |
Chair: Gillian Tett, Chair of Editorial Board and Editor-at-large, US, Financial Times A discussion with representatives of OECD Committees and Directorates on how well OECD Member countries are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic; the implications for policy and the contribution of OECD; and policies and strategies for dealing with future planetary emergencies. Manuel Muñiz, State Secretary for Global Spain, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Speakers:
Background materials: |
| Session 4 : New Analytical Approaches and Covid-19 | |
| 16:30-17:30 | Covid-19 has accelerated the diffusion and adoption of new analytical approaches – ABM, crisis simulation, nowcasting/real time analysis. The session will explore how to protect economies and markets from the kinds of risks it’s hard to foresee – whether a Lehman-style banking crisis or a global outbreak of disease. Agent-based models and an understanding of fear and other human emotions will likely play a big part.
Speakers:
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Closing Remarks |
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| 17:30-18:00 |
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