The
World Bank’s Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change, a
three-year ‘flexible’ framework for the Bank's institutions, makes a
strong case for urgent action on global warming. It goes so far as to
say that climate change will potentially undo development gains made in
recent decades in many countries, implying that climate change can
trump development, no matter how much money is spent trying to achieve
the United Nations’ eight poverty-reducing Millennium Development Goals.
With this rhetoric, it appears that the Bank really wants to address
climate change. But the Strategic Framework’s climate solutions suggest
something different. In the name of technological and political
neutrality, the Bank does nothing substantial to prioritize “new”
renewable energy sources or decentralized, locally-driven mitigation or
adaptation efforts. The Bank continues to stall on promises to account
for its own greenhouse gas emissions, and it continues to increase
financing for fossil fuels.
