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World Bank Drops Climate Lending Target
Coverage from TheCable, Boston University Global Development Policy Center, and others
The World Bank has retired its institution-wide target to direct 45% of lending toward projects with climate benefits, along with the earlier 35% target it replaced, while extending its Climate Change Action Plan.
The decision followed sustained pressure from the Trump administration and resistance from European governments and a coalition of developing-country shareholders. The bank says it will emphasize development outcomes such as emissions reductions and resilience, but the change could weaken accountability for climate-finance volumes and complicate efforts to expand international support for developing countries.
The story now adds more detail on the political fight behind the World Bank’s climate-policy shift and introduces a new uncertainty: the bank’s future climate-finance volumes may no longer be clearly accountable. It also clarifies that separate IDA and IBRD commitments could preserve some short-term continuity.