Set up in 1944 to finance the rebuilding of Europe in the aftermath of World War II, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund now find themselves in a very different place — and in need of an overhaul to reflect today’s changing realities.
Or so goes the story according to a group of vocal, mostly Western donors and experts, who have been calling specifically for the World Bank to reorient itself to focus more squarely on the impacts of climate change, alongside other “global public goods” such as pandemic prevention, alongside growing its lending capacity. As part of this, the bank was also tasked with taking on more risk to stretch its balance sheet to unlock more capital — all without jeopardizing its coveted AAA credit rating.
The call was spearheaded by the United States in 2022, which gave the bank a deadline of December 2023 to come up with an “evolution road map.”