Malpass: World Bank upped its climate finance to $32 bn past year

09 / 11 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

World Bank Group President David Malpass said the World Bank has reached $32 billion in climate finance this past year, a record that was above its Glasgow target.

He made the remarks during at the Climate Finance Event of the 27^th United Nations climate Change Conference (COP27).

Developing countries are facing an economic crisis, heavy debt burdens, high inflation, and climate change. It is a crisis facing development itself, he said.

The reversals in development are staggering. They extend to shrinking economies, extreme poverty, losses in education, stunting, limited access to electricity and clean water, high youth unemployment, and lack of infrastructure. The World Bank is deeply engaged in financing recoveries in all of these, and each reversal is made worse by climate change, he added.

“We are approaching the climate crisis with action and impact. I was in South Africa over the weekend. I visited the Komati coal power plant that is being decommissioned and repurposed for renewable energy, with substantial attention on the social transition. The financing comes from multiple sources, including loans from IBRD and Canada and a grant from our ESMAP trust fund. Developing complex projects like this takes a long time as will implementation,” Malpass said.

“That helps explain the key role played by the World Bank Group working with Eskom, the South African federal and local governments, and the JET-P partners as part of the country platform. With most parts of the world increasing their GHG emissions, the Komati repurposing is a hopeful sign, and the World Bank is proud to lead this successful approach to reducing GHG emissions,” Malpass added.