5 Ways the World Bank’s Climate Action Plan Could Go Further

A briefing by the World Resources Institute (WRI) analyzing the World Bank Group's draft Climate Change Action Plan through 2025, arguing that the plan is insufficient and proposing five specific areas for improvement to better align with the Paris Agreement and net-zero goals.

• The World Bank Group should establish a numeric cap on emissions for individual projects and its overall investment portfolio, with these caps decreasing over time to align with the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
• The World Bank Group needs to phase out financing for fossil fuels, including natural gas. In 2018, the Group invested over $3.5 billion in natural gas, some of which funded electrical power plants; WRI argues such investments should now be rare exceptions for energy-poor countries lacking renewable alternatives.
• While the new Resilience Rating System is a positive step, the World Bank Group must better integrate climate risks into program design, impact assessments, and economic analyses, and provide more training for country directors, economists, and task team leaders.
• The Action Plan's climate finance target of 35% (up from 32% in 2018 and 31% in 2019) is criticized for focusing on financial inputs rather than actual impact or portfolio quality. WRI suggests reporting on the reduction of subsidies for industry, agriculture, and fossil fuels instead.
• The World Bank Group should provide more resources to help governments and private actors in low-income countries develop climate-compatible projects, as these entities often lack the data, manpower, and modeling capabilities to move beyond 'business-as-usual' development.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). 5 Ways the World Bank’s Climate Action Plan Could Go Further. https://www.wri.org/insights/5-ways-world-banks-climate-action-plan-could-go-further

Chicago

World Resources Institute. 5 Ways the World Bank’s Climate Action Plan Could Go Further. 2021. https://www.wri.org/insights/5-ways-world-banks-climate-action-plan-could-go-further.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=5 Ways the World Bank’s Climate Action Plan Could Go Further |date=10 May 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/5-ways-world-banks-climate-action-plan-could-go-further |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021ways, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{5 Ways the World Bank’s Climate Action Plan Could Go Further}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/5-ways-world-banks-climate-action-plan-could-go-further}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }