World Bank taking bolder climate steps

WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- The World Bank said it was standing ready to offer its unique leverage on the global stage to help address the growing challenges of climate change.

Laura Tuck, a vice president in charge of sustainable development at the World Bank, said the effort to control climate change should be broad in scope and move beyond immediate energy measures to include sectors ranging from transportation to disaster risk management.

"The World Bank is in a unique position to work with countries to develop the solutions that build their resilience to climate impacts, protect their people and environment, and reduce their emissions," she said in a statement.

Even as transportation needs keep fossil fuels at the forefront of the energy sector, the World Bank said disasters like food security and drought are expected to push at least 100 million people into poverty within the next 15 years.

The World Bank said it was ready to help developing countries add enough renewable energy to their grids to meet the demands of 150 million homes and advance early-warning systems in at least 40 countries by 2020.

An action plan adopted by the World Bank outlines a goal of advancing climate investments from $2.2 billion to $3.5 billion per year by 2020. Along with its own independent financing, the bank said it would work to mobilize another $25 billion in commercial financing for renewable energy programs worldwide during the next five years.

An agreement signed in Paris by 195 national leaders in December called for all parties to make strides to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level necessary to curb global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Under the terms of the agreement, wealthier nations like China and the United States are expected to help finance the shift to a low-carbon economy from poor developing nations.

"Following the Paris climate agreement, we must now take bold action to protect our planet for future generations," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. "Developing countries want our help to implement their national climate plans, and we'll do all we can to help them."