World Bank President Ajay Banga said Tuesday the global lender has dramatically cut its funding of fossil fuel projects but defended its investments in natural gas, even as the bank eyes reforms to battle climate change.
Reforming the World Bank and the IMF to better address climate change and other global challenges is at the top of the agenda as the sister institutions hold their annual meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco, this week.
Banga said changes undergoing at the bank could boost its funding capacity to $150 billion over the next decade, though he warned it would still not be enough.
“After we deliver a better bank, we will need a bigger bank,” he said at a town hall with civil society organisations.
Banga took over the job in June from David Malpass, who stepped down early from his five-year term amid questions about his stance on climate change.
In Marrakesh, the Indian-born, naturalised US citizen was grilled by members of non-governmental organisations about the bank’s continuing funding of fossil fuel projects.
Banga said the bank had only allocated $170 million to natural gas last year out of $120 billion it committed.