At this morning’s MDB meeting, I reviewed the World Bank Group climate mitigation vision, action plan and results to integrate climate and development.
We base action on global and country diagnostics to focus on the most impactful pathways for the developing world. The starting point for an action is direct country and regional engagement including concessional resources and innovative instruments to build the pipeline of climate projects. I gave examples and noted that the WBG had reached $90 billion in climate financing over the last three fiscal years.
Noting the importance of private sector action, I described our major new initiative to strengthen private capital enabling environments through a whole of bank approach to fully incorporate the Country Private Sector Diagnostics and the upcoming B-Ready reports into country and regional engagements.
To attract private capital to global public goods will require verifiable benefits monitored over the long term to avoid green washing. In addition to replacing coal-fired power with lower carbon alternatives, verifiable benefits in terms of public health from reduced air and water pollution may be attractive to investors seeking sustainability. To make these Global Public Goods saleable within the private sector will require work on sustainability standards, quality of verification, authorization from a country’s NDCs and Paris Agreement commitments, and careful project choice, design, implementation and monitoring. These are all part of World Bank Group and MDB activities and could ultimately help build climate infrastructure as an asset class.
