The US just told the World Bank to stop obsessing about climate and get back to its core business of ending poverty. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on the institution to remove the 45 percent of financing it devotes to climate projects and instead invest to “increase access to affordable and reliable energy, reduce poverty and boost growth.”

Saudi Arabia is reportedly aligned with the US in opposing high climate spending. There is plenty of evidence to support that decision.

The World Bank was created at the end of the Second World War to rebuild Europe, and then took on the mission of lifting poor people out of poverty. But as with the UN and many other international organizations, the bank set out on its climate path after the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, committing billions to climate and vowing to lead on green financing. Last year it poured $42.6 billion into climate projects. That is money that could not be used to address the world’s most desperate needs.

Research repeatedly shows that, dollar for dollar, core development investments — such as improving maternal health, advancing e-learning........

© The Frontier Post (Editorial)