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April 16, 2009
As the world's largest source of concessional finance to developing countries, the World Bank plays a critical role in helping these countries take the necessary actions, often including difficult trade-offs, to achieve effective development and poverty reduction, while moving toward environmental sustainability. The Bank has become the largest single source of finance for environmental investments, technical assistance and capacity building in developing countries. More recently, the World Bank has been asked to manage the world’s largest new source of concessional resources to stimulate low carbon and climate resilient growth, the Climate Investment Funds, including the Clean Technology Fund.
On April 16, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a Congressional staff-only briefing to examine the World Bank’s role in development and climate change. Globally, there remains a large gap in living standards between developed and developing countries. Indeed, 1.6 billion people in the developing world are still without electricity and other basic energy services. This gap is seriously and urgently exacerbated by climate change. Economic development needs to embrace critically needed low carbon and climate resilient development and other sustainable approaches. Developing countries will be affected the soonest and the most by climate change, and they are the least prepared to deal with it. The World Bank, with its mission to help countries in the developing world enhance economic growth and reduce poverty, is at the center of international efforts to work with developing countries as they confront the challenges of climate change.