A Look Back at the World Bank Group at COP26

1. Op-ed: Taking Action: The World Bank Group’s Climate Priorities, by David Malpass

Ahead of COP26, World Bank Group President David Malpass set out the Bank’s climate priorities in an op-ed introducing COP26 policy briefs on adaptation, energy transition, support for countries’ nationally determined contributions, scaling finance for transformational projects, and a critical new diagnostic tool, Climate and Development Reports. Learn more about the policy briefs and read the op-ed.

2. World Bank Live: Locally Led Climate Action in Kenya

In Kenya, the World Bank, Denmark, and Sweden have been collaborating with the Government to translate Kenya’s ambitious climate agenda into scaled-up action on the ground. Watch the global launch of the Financing Locally Led Climate Action Program (FLLoCA), the first national model of devolved climate finance, which supports partnerships between government and citizens to identify and invest in solutions to address climate change. Participants included Keriako Tobiko, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kenya; Julius Muia, Principal Secretary at The National Treasury, Kenya; Wilber K. Ottichilo, Governor for Vihiga County, Kenya; Stanley Kimaren Ole Riamit, Executive Director, ILEPA; Rasmus Nordqvist, MP, Denmark; and Keith Hansen, World Bank Country Director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda.

3. World Bank Live: Supporting Countries to Integrate Climate and Development

The World Bank Group’s new Climate Change Action Plan is a major push to further integrate climate and development on a number of fronts, particularly through the new Country Climate and Development Reports which will inform engagements with our clients. Watch the discussion between Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Managing Director of Operations; Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Arabic Republic of Egypt; Nancy Tembo, Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, Republic of Malawi; and Serhat Köksal, Director, Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry of Finance, Turkey on how they are integrating climate and development objectives.

4. World Bank Live: The Value of Nature to People and Planet

The climate crisis and the loss of nature are two sides of the same coin: they are intrinsically linked and reinforce each other. Climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity and ecosystems services loss; even under a 1.5-2°C global warming scenario, biodiversity is expected to be hard hit (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2019). Conversely, the loss of nature contributes to climate change. This event - featuring Mari Pangestu, Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank; Alfred Okot Okidi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda and Karin Kemper, Global Director, Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy, World Bank– looked at how nature loss is an economic and development issue, and how it is linked to climate change.

5. Facebook Live: World Bank's Mari Pangestu in Conversation with Youth Activist Ruth Miller

What can the World Bank do to support youth climate ambition? Watch the conversation with Mari Pangestu, World Bank's Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships; and Ruth (Łchav’aya K’isen) Miller, Climate Justice Director for Native Movement and Youth4Climate Delegate.

6. Feature Story: Innovative Tools for Climate Action

The World Bank Group is the largest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries, delivering over $26 billion in climate finance in Fiscal Year 2021. Instruments encouraging vital financial flows as well as systems to evaluate the sustainability and resilience of climate action are helping to drive results on the ground. Here’s how some of these tools and approaches help countries tackle the climate crisis. Check out our list of innovative tools for climate action

7. Blog: When Poverty Meets Climate Change

Akihiko Nishio, the World Bank’s Vice President of Development Finance, writes that “the climate crisis is a deeply unfair one: the poorest people in the world contribute the least to climate change. In fact, 74 of the world’s poorest countries—those served by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s multibillion-dollar fund for the poorest countries—account for less than one tenth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These countries are also hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.” Read the blog