Until 2021 the IMF did not have a plan for systematically integrating climate change, alongside analysis of other risks to economic stability, into its influential Article IV process. The IMF has already committed to working on including climate change into Article IV process as part of its 2021 Comprehensive Surveillance Review. Now the challenge is about implementation.

This paper explores how the IMF and member countries can create a “climate-informed” Article IV surveillance process. Drawing on a literature review, an analysis of a sample of Article IV reports, and interviews with IMF staff, this paper takes stock of the topics and processes used to incorporate climate change into the Article IV surveillance process before 2021 and highlights opportunities to create a “climateinformed” surveillance process. It identifies gaps in the climate topics discussed in the Article IV reports and describes barriers to more systematically including climate considerations, proposes a “climate-informed” Article IV surveillance process, and identifies recommendations for both member countries and the IMF.