World Bank Group plans to increase climate financing to about $29 billion annually, its President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, has said.
The increase, he said at the on-going International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Group meetings in Lima, Peru, will boost global efforts and help countries tackle the impact of climate change and move toward low-carbon growth.
[pull_quote_center]According to Kim, 21 per cent of the Bank Group’s current funding is climate related, adding that the amount could rise to 28 per cent in 2020 in response to clients’ demand.[/pull_quote_center]
The projected increase is about one-third jump in climate financing.
The International Development Bank now provides an average of $10.3 billion a year in direct financing for climate action.
If current financing levels were maintained, this would mean an increase to $16 billion in 2020,” he said, pointing out that the Bank Group plans to continue current levels of leveraging co-financing for climate-related projects at current financing levels, that could mean up to another $13 billion a year in 2020. The direct financing and leveraged co-financing together, Kim said, represents an estimated $29 billion.
The World Bank Group’s announcement came in response to developing countries’ calls for new resources to help address climate challenges.
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[pull_quote_center]“We are committed to scaling up our support for developing countries to battle climate change,” Kim said.[/pull_quote_center]
“As we move closer to Paris, countries have identified trillions of dollars of climate-related needs. The bank, with the support of our members, will respond ambitiously to this great challenge.”
The World Bank Group’s climate finance pledge is dependent on clients’ demand and on maintaining current financial capacity. The Bank Group’s Board has agreed to a roadmap to review its shareholding and financing capacity in the coming years.
Earlier, the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the continent was not getting enough of the billions of dollars in climate change funding, despite being the region that suffers most.
He said the world needs to rethink how it spends that money. Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Lima, Peru, Adesina told the AFP, “Africa today contributes just two percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, but Africa is the one that suffers most from the impact of climate change.”
The talks marked the 55-year-old Nigerian’s first major world event since taking up his post in September.
“We need to look at how we’re dividing up (climate funding) to make sure the financing levels are high enough,” said Adesina, Nigeria’s immediate past agriculture minister who was named Forbes magazine’s “African of the Year” in 2013.
