The World Bank continues to invest billions of dollars in fossil fuel projects despite pledging to fight climate change, according to a report by Urgewald, a Germany-based environmental lobby group. The report, which is based on the World Bank’s data, showed the financial institution had spent more than US$12 billion on such projects since 2015 when the Paris Agreement was adopted. A large chunk of the money, around $10.5 billion, was invested over the last five years, with investments in the past two years reaching $2 billion.
According to Urgewald, the World Bank approved an additional assistance program worth $38 million to support upstream oil and gas in Brazil. It also provided Guyana’s Petroleum Resource Governance and Management Project with $20-million assistance in 2019. The assistance program in Guyana will likely last until at least April next year.
The World Bank said it had stopped funding the upstream oil and gas sector since 2019. However, the bank said it continued assisting resource-reliant emerging countries with advice on economically-viable energy solutions. Urgewald study said the World Bank’s assistance in these projects came as direct project financing, including guarantees, equity, and new loans.
Global financial institutions have pledged to support renewable energy projects to reduce the world’s carbon emissions and slow global warming. Research from the United Nations Environment Program found that the world is on course to use 120% more fossil fuels by 2030 than it is required to be aligned with the goals under the Paris agreement.
