World Bank addresses climate change
The World Bank appears to be getting serious about the issue of climate change. It plans to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development – development which is not achieved at the cost of the environment. The World Bank’s chief scientist Bob Watson estimates that almost $10 billion of its annual loans may be at risk because of climate change which could potentially force the Bank to reassign billions of the its dollars.
To address these issues the Bank will work with developing countries to see how climate change will affect them and then designing programs that are “climate proof.” This is a welcome policy change for the Bank’s critics who estimate that 80% of the Bank’s investment projects fail to take climate implications into account. The Bank will also begin to strongly encourage countries to embrace sources of energy that are renewable and has increased its funding by 20% in this regard.
1. Should the World Bank take a greater role in helping countries manage their climates? If so, how should it do so? For example, should it attach 'environmental strings' to the loans it grants?
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