Scoop: World Bank’s rules for Paris climate deadline revealed

The World Bank management gave staff their first set of detailed guidelines on how the lender plans to ensure that all its activities are in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement on climate, meaning that starting in three months, the bank will only fund projects with low greenhouse gas emissions. According to a memo to staff yesterday that was seen by Devex, all the lender’s activities and projects “must be assessed to demonstrate that they are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement” by the start of the fiscal year on July 1, which meets the deadline the bank set for itself. This includes supporting climate-resilient infrastructure and development programs so that vulnerable nations can cope with more frequent extreme weather events. The historic and legally binding 2015 Paris accords, which were signed by 196 countries, are the global benchmark for carbon reduction goals. The agreement aims to limit global warming to 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels, and aims for 1.5, to prevent the severest effects of climate change. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this week warned that there is a “rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all” as it stressed the need for urgency. The bank, which lends to countries to spur their development, is taking a multipronged approach to moving from simply doing green projects to having a more comprehensive strategy for transforming economies. Its lending now has to be in tune with countries' own climate agendas, while ensuring all bank projects assess and manage any risks. “Regarding mitigation risks, support lower-carbon options whenever feasible and prevent carbon lock-in,” the bank’s memo said. Mitigation refers to preventing global warming by cutting down on activities such as fossil fuel burning. Adaptation goals must also be weighed to “ensure that risks from climate hazards have been assessed and reduced,” the memo said. Adaptation entails helping countries cope with the consequences of climate change, including floods and droughts. However, recent public-facing documents published by the bank on its Paris alignment plan still irked some environmental activists, who said the move does not go far enough. Fran Witt, a campaign manager at Recourse, expressed upset that the bank will still enable some gas projects, arguing that all efforts should go to green energy. “Sadly, the World Bank’s new guidance is far from transformational,” Witt said in a statement Monday in response to those documents. On the other hand, client countries of the bank, especially in low-income nations, have expressed concern that the bank’s original mission of poverty reduction could be harmed if the bank focuses too much on climate. They also point to “hypocrisy” that the largest shareholders of the bank — and the ones often spearheading a bigger climate focus — are the most industrialized nations, which are the historic largest polluters and continue to emit carbon. Axel van Trotsenburg, the bank's managing director for operations, wrote in a blog post last week that the bank’s investments in gas are “rare” and done only “where there is a compelling development case where cleaner options are not feasible to provide energy.” A number of trainings are scheduled for bank staff in April and May, and an internal facing website with technical information has gone up. Speaking on Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations, outgoing bank president David Malpass said one of his key goals for his remaining time in office is to have the lender fully aligned with the Paris goals by July 1, his last day on the job. “It’s very clear that people are contributing to global climate change,” said Malpass, who was under fire last year for a gaffe that seemed to suggest he might believe the opposite. He noted climate finance from the bank has doubled during his term.