World Bank President David Malpass faces continuous criticism over the bank's stance on climate change and financial commitments to support poorer countries fight global warming.
Malpass arrived at the United Nations climate summit on a mission to ensure the world that he and his institution are fully committed to curbing climate change and helping poor nations that have been severely affected by droughts, fires, and storms.
World Bank President on Climate Change
In a statement, while addressing finance ministers from around the globe on Wednesday morning, Malpass said that they were now approaching the climate crisis with action and impact. He added that they want to dramatically increase the number and size of projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
However, shortly after the World Bank president's speech, he was suddenly on the defensive as he faced questions. Malpass was confronted by a reporter for The Guardian who repeatedly questioned the official if he is a "climate denier."
Responding to the question, the bank official said that he was not before he was escorted away by World Bank staff members. Malpass is facing strict criticism three years after he was nominated to lead the World Bank by former U.S. President Donald Trump, as per the New York Times.
Malpass has become the face of an institution that provides billions of dollars every year to finance projects that seek to mitigate the effects of climate change and help poorer countries adapt to an increasingly warming planet.
However, despite these, the World Bank president is continuously hounded by questions about his own views on the science of climate change. Furthermore, his bank is being accused of not doing nearly enough to help curb global warming.
According to the World Bank, Malpass said that his institution was deeply engaged in financing recoveries of several issues, including shrinking economies, extreme poverty, losses in education, stunting, limited access to electricity and clean water, high youth unemployment, and lack of infrastructure.
Addressing Global Warming
The official said that the bank has dramatically grown its financing to address climate disasters, including the massive flooding in Pakistan. Malpass added that the institution has also increased its climate finance. This includes funds for major commitments to adaptation, reaching $32 billion in climate finance this past year.
That amount of money is a record that peaked above the institution's Glasgow target. Malpass said that he welcomes and solicits others' input on ways to increase their resources and commitment capacity.
The World Bank president noted that he visited the Komati coal power plant that was being decommissioned and repurposed for renewable energy. Malpass said that the financing of the project came from multiple sources, including several loans from IBRD and Canada, as well as a grant from the ESMAP trust fund.
With finance taking center stage at the COP27 climate summit, UN experts published a list of projects worth a total of $120 billion that investors could back to help poor countries cut emissions and adapt to climate change.
One of the UN-appointed experts, Mahmoud Mohieldin, said that they can now show that a meaningful pipeline of investible opportunities exists across the economies that are in desperate need of financial support, Reuters reported.
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