Devex Newswire: Accusations fly and tempers flare at UNESCO institute

Rampant bullying or a maligned reformer? We look at the divisions that have erupted at a statistical outfit within UNESCO. Also in today’s edition: The World Bank is apparently labeling a bunch of projects as climate-related — even when that relationship is practically nonexistent — and climate talks in Germany flounder. +Tune into the latest episode of our weekly podcast series, This Week in Global Development, where Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar speaks with me and Dr. Jen Kates from KFF about USAID’s localization update and other controversies from the week. Who said stats were boring A small statistical outfit within UNESCO has been roiled by tensions as some staff members accuse their boss of bullying, while her defenders say she’s a reformer forced to work within the confines of a perennially underfunded agency and change-averse culture. A cloud of grievances has hung over the UNESCO Institute for Statistics for several years, with three official complaints lodged against Silvia Montoya since 2019, sparking two internal investigations by UNESCO. While the first investigation concluded there was sufficient evidence that Montoya — who has led UIS since 2015 — “created a hostile working environment,” no disciplinary action was taken and she remains at her post Meanwhile, two diametrically opposed pictures of her leadership have emerged. One former UIS staffer tells Sophie Edwards that working for Montoya had been a professional and personal “nightmare,” and had affected their mental health to the extent that they quit. Another former staffer says: “You could spend an hour writing an email to her worrying that she might take it the wrong way and accuse you of undermining her.” But Dankert Vedeler, chair of the UIS governing board, argued that Montoya has implemented much-needed reforms, which included layoffs after 2016 when the World Bank stopped funding UIS, and the United Kingdom, alongside other donors, began earmarking their funding for data on learning outcomes. “The financial situation worsened, or more was earmarked, and the need for new approaches led to both ending contracts for staff and also the question of staff competencies … this is the background to the tension among staff,” he says. Read: Tensions flare at underfunded UNESCO unit over bullying allegations So-called climate projects When is a climate project not a climate project? When it’s not a climate project. But it seems the World Bank is trying to shoehorn a bunch of its work into the climate category to raise the dollar value of its spending on green stuff. According to new data research from the Center for Global Development and the Breakthrough Institute, there is a huge issue with the 2,554 World Bank climate projects carried out from 2000 to 2022: “Hundreds of projects tagged climate — many in poorer countries — appear to have little to do with climate change mitigation or adaptation.” Why? “Clearly, all of the pressure from the shareholders to increase the climate dollar amount spent can lead to problematic incentives internally,” Scott Morris, one of the researchers, tells my colleague Shabtai Gold. For example, some projects are said to contain 1% for climate mitigation. Just try figuring out the climate part of a health or education project. Moreover, what exactly did a digital payments project do for the environment? “One thing that comes through in the data is the lack of a clear strategy on what mitigation and adaptation are. A rethink on strategy at the World Bank would be very helpful,” says Vijaya Ramachandran, a co-author of the paper. + Between 2018 and 2022 the World Bank spent $1.3 billion on climate-related contracts. Devex Pro members can read our analysis of where that money went. Not yet gone Pro? Try it today with a 15-day free trial and access all our exclusive analyses and reporting. Subsidizing harm Meanwhile, the bank itself has new research out warning that government subsidies to fossil fuels and polluting gas exceeded $500 billion in 2021 — effectively outpacing climate spending. Meaning, governments are using their constrained budgets to incentivize a dirtier, more carbon-intensive world. The bank said direct subsidies to fuels and sectors like agriculture and fishing amount to about $1.25 trillion, which is equivalent to the entire Mexican economy, Shabtai tells me. “The magnitude of the subsidies are truly large and are actually increasing dramatically,” Richard Damania, the bank’s economist for sustainable development, tells reporters. He noted that subsidies on petrol often help rich people much more than poor people — if one considers who takes public transport and who owns multiple cars, for example. Subsidies also lead to inefficiencies and waste — when fertilizers are cheap, they are overused, damaging the ground and water supplies, potentially even causing cancer rates to go up. “This is an opportunity for reform,” says Damania. In other words, governments need to consider how to target payments so they are encouraging good things and not harming nature. + Want to know how to land a consulting job at the World Bank? Then join us today at 9 a.m. ET (3 p.m. CET) for a Devex career event, with Roberto Amorosino, a former senior HR specialist at the bank, offering insider tips and perspectives on this unique recruitment process. Stuck in Bonn The United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany, that just wrapped up mark the halfway point to the main U.N. Climate Change Conference, aka COP 28, in Dubai, but based on the anemic results, we’re barely there, let alone halfway there. Climate Correspondent William Worley reports that progress on climate finance — or rather, lack thereof — was a key stumbling block that hampered talks on adaptation and loss and damage. The inertia reinforced resentment among poorer nations that their wealthier counterparts who warmed the planet for decades are now failing to help them cope with the effects of that warming. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was none too pleased. “Countries are far off-track in meeting climate promises and commitments,” he said Thursday. “I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility. The climate agenda is being undermined.” The lack of progress in Bonn means adaptation talks, established to help achieve parity with climate mitigation funding, are now off track. Read: Bonn climate talks end in disappointment Polish pickle We explained a few weeks back that the European Investment Bank was starting to sweat about whether it would have to stop lending in 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries due to the potential demise of an obscure partnership deal between the European Union and the ACP states. The Cotonou Agreement between EIB and the 79 countries was meant to end and be replaced more than two years ago, but first Hungary and now Poland is blocking the signature of the Post-Cotonou Agreement — in Warsaw’s case because it is upset about a surplus of Ukrainian grain hurting Polish farmers. In other words, not because of anything in the agreement itself, our Brussels Correspondent Vince Chadwick tells me. But with the June 30 deadline for the expiration of the current Cotonou Agreement — which EIB says grants it the legal cover to lend outside the EU — looming large, the European Commission bit the bullet Wednesday and proposed to EU states that the agreement be extended for another three months. The commission, which negotiated the new Post-Cotonou text with the ACP states, was loath to request another extension, as it has been doing for the past three years. Any political momentum for a renewed partnership is dead, and it’s never a good look to give in to Poland’s diplomatic guerilla tactics. But in the end, it seems the EIB money tap carried the day — and guaranteed a long hot summer for at least a few brave development officials who now have to try and find a way to win over Poland before the clock starts counting down again. ICYMI: Global south group refutes Polish claim to be defending global south (Pro) In other news International donors have pledged $10.3 billion in aid to support millions of war-affected Syrians at an annual European Union-hosted conference in Brussels, falling short of the U.N. humanitarian appeal by approximately $800 million. [AP News] The U.N. has mandated fossil fuel lobbyists attending the upcoming COP 28 to disclose their affiliation, promoting transparency and addressing concerns about their presence at climate talks. [The Guardian] Mercy Corps warns of escalating humanitarian needs among Sudan's severely food-insecure populations as the two-month conflict persists in the country. [VOA] Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.