Former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday at an event concurrent with the United Nations General Assembly that President Biden should work to remove the World Bank president, calling him a “climate denier.”
Hours later, Development Bank President David Malpass defended the climate record but declined to say directly whether he accepts the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is warming the planet dangerously. Rejected.
Malpass called Gore’s remarks “very bizarre” and said Gore himself is not a scientist when he refused to answer questions about whether he embraced climate science.
“What we have to do is move forward with impactful projects,” Malpass said.
Both men were part of a separate panel discussion on climate change New York Times event.
Gore said Malpass, who was nominated by former President Donald J. Trump as president of the World Bank in 2019, has failed to improve access to finance for developing countries to work on climate projects. concerns he expressed Previous.
“Almost 90% of future emissions growth will come from developing countries, so we must remove the top layer of risk from these developing countries’ access to capital,” he said. “That’s what the World Bank does.”
The World Bank and its smaller regional counterparts have been repeatedly called to action by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, including opening remarks at the General Assembly on Tuesday. “The major economies are their shareholders and they have to make it happen,” he said.
Malpass defended the performance of the World Bank, Climate Action Plan It was launched last year in Glasgow. He said the bank has directed $31.7 billion into climate finance, half of which towards projects to adapt to extreme weather events and other climate change. This is important for developing countries.
“Banks are world leaders in turning their attention to resilience, adaptation and change,” he said.
At another panel at the same event, US Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry declined to comment on whether the Biden administration had confidence in Mr Malpass’s leadership, saying, “It’s the president’s decision.” .
But Kerry said he and others in his administration should reconsider the global approach to climate change and other issues more broadly so that institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can act more proactively. He said the members are promoting.
Kelly said the multilateral development bank “needs a major reform, a major restructuring”. “It’s up to us to bring people together to make that change happen, and there’s a lot of discussion about what we do now.”
The president of the World Bank has been held by the largest shareholder, a U.S. citizen, since the bank was founded after World War II. Malpass’s term runs until 2024, and Biden could force Malpass to resign or work with other shareholders to pressure the board to remove him, but he should get Malpass out early. can’t be dismissed.
Lisa Freedman contributed to the report.