World Bank commits to annual reports on climate action plan

The World Bank on Tuesday agreed to boost the amount of money it spends to tackle climate change to 35% from a previous target of 28%. They have also agreed to release annual progress reports. This new draft came into action due to the lack of a clear implementation strategy.

The global development bank said that it would also provide a roadmap to show how it will help developing countries meet their Paris climate accord targets. Genevieve Connors, who oversees tracking and reporting of climate finance for the World Bank told the reporters that this is really transformational in the way that they do business. One of the central differences of this climate change plan is that they as the World Bank Group have now elevated climate to be central to everything that they do.

In April, the World Bank had released some details of its plan. That says that it would help developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The amount it dedicates to climate finance will be increased. Concerns were raised by the environmental campaigners that, the World Bank’s draft plan lacked specifics. And this is about how it would align policies with the goals of the Paris agreement.

Gas investments would be assessed by the bank, on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, it makes sense to proceed with gas projects. Connors after saying all these also added that there was no firm deadline for halting all such investments. It is a moving target and they see it as a journey towards decarbonization, she said. But our countries are all on different pathways and there always may be some circumstances in which a particular natural gas project may make sense. But the hurdles are high, and definitely needs proof.