World Bank, IMF deepen effort to scale up climate action

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group said Friday they deepened joint efforts to bolster climate action.

The institutions said it is happening through an enhanced framework to help countries scale up action to confront the threat of climate change.

“The collaboration will provide critical support for countries’ climate strategies—through an integrated, country-led approach to policy reforms and climate investments,” they said in a statement. “Within their respective mandates, the World Bank Group and the IMF will leverage their analytics, technical assistance, financing, and policy expertise to enhance country-driven reform programs.”

The framework includes three principles -- identifying each country’s climate challenges and the priority policy reforms needed to address them, working with other Multilateral Development Banks and development partners to help countries implement the reforms through technical assistance and financing, and helping to establish country-led platforms designed to mobilize additional climate finance, including from the private sector.

The World Bank Group will devote 45% of annual financing to climate change adaptation and mitigation by 2025, working to bring renewable energy to 250 million people in Africa by 2030, and expanding its crisis toolkit to support people on the front lines of the climate crisis.

The IMF, meanwhile, will help countries build resilience to climate change with support from its Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which is funded by contributions from 23 countries.

--Agencies