Thanks to the efforts of Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley and her “Bridgetown Agenda,” the climate movement has focused on the World Bank and the tens of billions of dollars it controls. As the leader of an island nation plagued by hurricanes and facing rising sea levels, Mottley wants the bank to take the lead in mobilizing the more than $1 trillion a year that developing countries will need by 2030 to meet their climate investment needs. Her campaign has gained some powerful allies. The United States hosts the bank, is its largest shareholder, and in fact chose its next president, Ajay Banga. It has offered support for at least the principles of Mottley’s program and, along with Germany, has called for “fundamental reform.” In response to this pressure, the World Bank’s leadership has ordered its staff to develop a “development plan.” The 20-page document says the bank will “expand” beyond its current “twin goals” of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Its new mission “will emphasize the importance of sustainability and resilience to more clearly reflect that our mission encompasses global public goods (GPGs) such as climate change.” It was followed last week by a 37-page report that offered more detail, which governments and bank officials will discuss at the bank’s spring meeting of the bank’s Development Committee next Wednesday. The bank’s mission is likely to be formally updated.

Author: Joe Lo