Recent news that the United Kingdom and other Western European countries will join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has prompted aflurry的discussionabout how the United States, which has been reserved about the new institution, should respond. The Chinese-led AIIB is a new international financial institution (IFI) that will finance infrastructure projects in Asia.

无论华盛顿决定如何，很明显，AIIB和其他新的多边机构正在成为发展金融景观的重要组成部分。These banks can support much-needed infrastructure improvements in the developing world, but they’ll also need to ensure that their investmentsdo not come at the expense当地社区或环境。

Why New Multilaterals? Why Now?

就经济能力和人口而言，在世界银行和亚洲发展银行等现有的IFI中，新兴经济体的代表性不足。巴西，俄罗斯，印度，中国和南非（金砖国家）一起占21％的the world economy and 43 percent of the world’s population, yet their voting power at more traditional IFIs does not match their size. For example, they collectively hold14％和11 percent的voting shares in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Monetary Fund, respectively.

At the same time, today’s infrastructure investment needs far exceed the amount of finance currently available. In Asia alone, the overall need for national infrastructure investment is estimated to be about8.22万亿美元for the period between 2010 and 2020. Existing available capital will not meet this financial need—new financial institutions like AIIB and the New Development Bank (NDB), a bank initiated by the BRICS countries, are stepping in to fill the gap.

In October 2014, 21 countries signed an MOU to create the $100 billion AIIB. As of April 2015, 35 countries had signed up to be prospective founding members—including a number of European countries such as the UK, Germany and Switzerland— and dozens more have applied. The bank is expected to be formally established by the end of 2015. Also in 2014, the BRICS signed an agreement to create a $100 billion NDB. These banks usher in a new wave of increased development and financial cooperation between developing countries, emerging markets and developed economies.

5 Key Questions for New Development Banks

这些新的发展金融参与者的优势是从现有的IFIS的数十年经验中学习并设定新的国际标准。当他们继续进行运营时，他们需要确保他们资助的基础设施项目不会产生污染，损害健康或否则会伤害人或地球。他们应该考虑许多问题，例如：

1）声音和投票：银行将如何结构治理？必威官网亚洲体育

If the intention is for these institutions to address the needs of emerging economies, will emerging economies retain a combined majority voting power?

2) Climate Risks: How will they factor climate into investments?

What will be the balance between “green” investments, such as those in renewable energy and efficiency projects, and “brown” investments, such as those in extractives? How will they fund climate change adaptation and mitigation projects? Will they rule out investments in high-carbon infrastructure like coal-fired power plants?

3）环境和社会风险：环境和社会保障措施将发挥什么作用？

Will the banks createenvironmental和社交保障措施为了确保基础设施项目不会产生诸如污染或社会动荡之类的意外后果？他们将如何结合现有IFI的课程和经验？他们将采取什么措施来确保彻底和强大的实施？

4）透明度和问责制：他们将如何处理信息和数据？

Will information regarding investment decisions be publicly available? Will there be a grievance mechanism and an independent accountability mechanism? What are the expectations for stakeholder engagement policies, and how will theyconsult stakeholders?

5) Country Systems and Principle-Based Systems: How will new institutions strike the balance?

How will institutionsbalance内部保障政策具有国家级保障措施？在什么情况下（如果有的话），国家系统将独立运作？

很明显，世界需要由新兴经济体领导的发展银行，既可以扩大投资水平，又可以使发展中国家更好地代表发展金融领域。然而，这些新银行还需要扮演另一个角色：随着他们迎来更多的发展，拥护可持续性。

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