Archive · 7 Sep 2026
World Bank Ditches Climate Targets Despite Major Green Lending
The World Bank lends money to help countries with important projects.
The article says the bank has dropped its climate targets.
However, it also says the bank lent $43 billion for climate-related causes.
That amount was 44% of all its lending for the year.
The bank’s formal goal was 45%, so it came very close to meeting it.
Ajay Banga leads the World Bank.
He was known for supporting environmental efforts before taking the job.
The article does not explain exactly how or why the climate targets were changed.
The article’s headline says the World Bank has abandoned its climate targets.
Ajay Banga was hired partly for his green credentials after pledging to plant 100 million trees at Mastercard.
Banga was praised at an event attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
A year later, the World Bank provided $43 billion for climate-related causes, representing 44% of its annual lending.
That 44% figure came close to the bank’s formal goal of directing 45% of lending toward climate-related causes.
- Who
- The World Bank and its leader, Ajay Banga, are central to the report.
- What
- The report concerns the World Bank’s climate targets and its climate-related lending.
- When
- A year after the event involving Ajay Banga, the World Bank provided $43 billion for climate-related causes.
- Why
- Banga was hired partly because of his green credentials; the excerpt does not state why the targets were allegedly abandoned.
- Reported development
- The article says the World Bank has ditched its climate targets.
- World Bank climate lending
- $43 billion
- Share of annual lending
- 44% was directed to climate-related causes.
- Formal target
- 45% of lending was supposed to go toward such causes.
- Ajay Banga’s previous pledge
- He had pledged to plant 100 million trees while serving as Mastercard’s chief executive.
- Event attendees
- Emmanuel Macron and Abiy Ahmed were among those present at the event described.