The World Bank and other multilateral development banks recently have begun reconsidering their self-imposed restrictions on financing fossil fuel projects. This change is being prompted in part by the new U.S. administration and is also supported by developing country experts.

Yet, the reality remains that fossil fuel emissions, and specifically the climate change they induce, can severely undermine multilateral development bank projects and overall developing country growth prospects.

Most emissions, however, come from richer big economies, not poorer developing ones. Given the negative effects of these emissions, multilateral development banks need to push richer economies away from fossil fuels, even as they consider softening restrictions on lending for fossil fuel projects in poorer countries.

Last decade, multilateral development banks began restricting funding for fossil fuel projects due to concerns about emissions, but also under pressure from the U.S., European and other key stakeholders.

For example, the World Bank announced in 2017 it would largely stop funding gas drilling and extracting projects. Other

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