The signs of the unfolding climate catastrophe are increasingly evident, including record-breaking forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon, unprecedented icemelt in the Arctic, devastating flooding in Africa and South Asia, and deadly heat waves in Europe. To stop this climate crisis, we need to urgently phase out the use of fossil fuels and shift to using sustainable, renewable energy.
Multilateral development banks such as the World Bank manage billions of dollars of public money. They are key to financing the shift to a sustainable, renewable global energy system. As major funders of fossil fuels in the past, these Banks have a responsibility to lead the way on phasing out fossil fuels and shifting investment to distributed renewable energy.
Increasing investment in renewable energy is crucial for improving the lives of the one billion people around the world who don’t have access to electricity. Investing in off-grid renewable energy is the best way to provide affordable and sustainable energy for the poorest communities, benefiting local businesses and households.
We are calling on all of the world's biggest public banks to shift all their money out of dirty fossil fuels and into sustainable, renewable energy by 2020.
Tell the World Bank to commit to ending ALL fossil fuel finance
The World Bank has financed at least $12 billion in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement even though this is not compatible with the Paris goals. It will continue to increase emissions, exacerbate the climate crisis, particularly increasing negative impacts in the most vulnerable communities, and result in stranded assets.
As well as financing fossil fuel projects directly, the bank also takes advantage of loopholes to continue to finance fossil fuels indirectly. So as well as calling for an end to direct financing of fossil fuels we are also calling for the closing of loopholes which support fossil fuel expansion through intermediaries, Development Policy Finance and technical assistance.
Over 150 organisations and academics have signed a letter to the World Bank calling for a ‘whole-of-institution’ end to all fossil fuel finance. This letter comes as the World Bank is due to release its new Climate Change Action Plan detailing its plans for work on climate change for the next 5 years and also after 9 of its own Executive Directors called for a fossil finance phase out.
Join us in calling on the World Bank to commit to financing a sustainable, low-carbon future that reduces vulnerability to climate change and provides clean energy for the world's most vulnerable people.