The World Bank Development Committee recommended the necessity of adopting a green, resilient and inclusive development approach, and the Committee urged the World Bank Group to implement it effectively through country strategies and operations.
The committee said in its recent report that the World Bank Group is in a unique position to address the challenges before us through its ability to bring together various parties, global influence, and the ability to mobilize financing, technical assistance, and knowledge for the public and private sectors.
The committee added, “We commend the World Bank Group’s expansion of its climate financing over the past two years, its continued role as the largest multilateral source of climate investments in developing countries, its focus on biodiversity, and its technical and financial support for adaptation, mitigation, and resilience activities.”
Regarding work to meet immediate infrastructure and economic needs, I asked the World Bank Group to continue working with client countries to address climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss, while facilitating access to cleaner, affordable energy.
It also asked the World Bank to expand its comprehensive work on biodiversity, work to measure co-benefits, and integrate biodiversity into the core of its operations as appropriate.
She said; “We, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, are also committed to supporting a measurable impact on the transition to a low-carbon economy, while studying countries’ energy needs and mixes, and providing targeted support to the poorest countries.”
These efforts will include phasing out inefficient energy subsidy systems and other distortive fiscal policies where possible.
The Development Committee explained that the poorest and most vulnerable groups of the population, including those living in situations of fragility, conflict, and violence, and small countries are among those most affected by climate change, the deterioration of environmental systems, and natural disasters, pointing out that it supports the ambitious new goal of the Bank Group. The international committee is committed to directing 35% of its financing commitments to climate activities on average, and its commitment to directing at least 50% of the World Bank’s financing to climate activities to support adaptation and resilience measures, and its vital role in bringing together various parties, exchanging knowledge, and supporting a fair transition for countries that request this support.
She added that she looks forward to the World Bank Group's action plan on climate change for the years 2021-2025, and we commend its work in disaster risk management, preparedness, and response, in addition to welcoming the World Bank Group's proposal to prepare country reports on climate and development, and we emphasize that national contributions to combating climate change It should be the main focus of climate strategies.
She praised the World Bank Group's commitment to align its financial flows with the Paris Climate Agreement, and to continue helping countries achieve their climate goals, including through national contributions to combat climate change, biodiversity strategies and national action plans, and to encourage the efforts of the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency to mobilize Private sector investments in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.
The Committee announced its support for the important role of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in preparations for the fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fifteenth Meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the twenty-sixth session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change at a later date. From this year.
