Exclusive: Experts warn World Bank reforms might leave the poor behind

The World Bank’s reform trajectory risks sidelining core development priorities such as education and health in poorer countries, as a “one-size-fits-all” climate approach dominates momentum for modernizing the lender, according to a group of scholars and former development bank officials.

Their new research paper, on which Devex is the first to report, argues that high-income shareholders’ reform push risks articulating grand ideas while underfunding the bank’s capacity to carry them out. In a way, this fits a pattern in which wealthy countries make promises on climate finance that never fully materialize, sowing distrust and disillusionment in lower-income nations.

The paper reflects concerns that the reform agenda is being dominated by the most powerful countries and civil society groups from advanced economies, reflecting their interests and risking the bank’s core anti-poverty mandate. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has spearheaded the reform push and wants sweeping changes before the end of the year.