WORLD BANK STEPS UP FUNDING

THE WORLD Bank would give equal weight to curbing emissions and helping poor countries deal with the “disastrous effects” of a warming world as it steps up investments to tackle climate change in the first half of the 2020s, it said yesterday. The bank and its two sister organisations plan to double their investments in climate action to about $200 billion (R2.76 trillion) from 2021 to 2025, with a boost in support for efforts to adapt to higher temperatures, wilder weather and rising seas. The latest figures on climate funding for developing countries show barely a quarter has been going to adaptation, with the bulk backing adoption of clean energy and more efficient energy use, aimed at cutting planet-warming emissions. “We must fight the causes, but also adapt to the consequences that are often most dramatic for the world’s poorest people,” said World Bank chief executive Kristalina Georgieva, as leaders flagged rising needs at UN climate talks in Poland. Of the $100bn the World Bank plans to make available in the five years from mid-2020, half would go to adaptation measures, it said. Those include building more robust homes, schools and infrastructure, preparing farmers for climate shifts, managing water wisely and protecting people’s incomes through social safety nets, Georgieva added. The World Bank said it would also improve weather forecasts, and provide early warning and climate services for 250 million people in 30 developing countries. “These targets demonstrate how seriously we are taking this issue,” said World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim. From 2014 to 2018, the bank spent nearly $21bn on adaptation, which accounted for just more than 40 percent of the climate benefits generated by the institution’s funding overall.