World Bank Group President Ajay Banga has affirmed the institution’s commitment to allocate 45 per cent of its funds toward addressing climate change by 2025.
This effort will be equally split, with half of the funds directed toward mitigation efforts and the other half toward adaptation initiatives.
Speaking at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, Banga highlighted the Pacific region, where 97 per cent of the World Bank’s climate financing is currently allocated to adaptation projects.
Banga also emphasized the bank’s broader development goals, including a target to provide quality and affordable healthcare to 1.5bn people by 2030.
He pointed to ongoing efforts in Fiji, where the World Bank is enhancing access to healthcare through medical facilities, telehealth services, and community health workers.
Additionally, Banga outlined the bank’s action plan to deliver cleaner, more reliable, and affordable energy to 300 million Africans by 2030, with 250 million people supported by the World Bank and 50m by the African Development Bank.
He further emphasized the World Bank’s commitment to expanding social protection programs, in collaboration with partners, to alleviate hunger for 500 million people by 2030, with a goal to ensure that half of the beneficiaries are women.
“We are optimistic about the transformative impact we can achieve with these initiatives, but we remain fully aware of the magnitude of the challenges ahead,” Banga said.
This is why we are working to secure a significant replenishment of International Development Association – IDA – which as the Lowy Institute stated plainly in a paper last week – is critical for the development and stability of the Pacific Islands,” he said.
He noted that many shareholders – like Australia – are making hard budget decisions and tradeoffs over the next few months.
“During this time, I hope they will keep in mind that the magic of IDA is not only the lifeline it offers to these countries, but its unique capacity to multiply every donor dollar four times. It’s the best deal in development.
“We know that the World Bank alone won’t be enough to provide the trillions required annually for climate, fragility, education, hunger alleviation, health care, and inequality.
“Or produce jobs fast enough to absorb the 1.2bn young people in emerging markets who will become working age adults over the next 10 years.
“This generation is facing a job market that is projected to only offer spots for 420m of them, leaving nearly 800m without a clear path to prosperity.
“That is why we need all shoulders at the wheel – governments, philanthropies, and multilateral development banks working together.
“But to close the financing and jobs gap, we also need the private sector. We require their ingenuity, speed, and resources to create the demand for investment by generating bankable projects,” he said.
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