The World Bank’s Climate Betrayal: Sacrificing the Poor for Green Idols
The World Bank, whose mission is to alleviate poverty, is now diverting 45% of its funding—$40 billion annually—away from essential needs like #poverty and #hunger towards #climatechangeinitiative
The World Bank’s Climate Betrayal: Sacrificing the Poor for Green Idols
The World Bank, whose mission is to alleviate poverty, is now diverting 45% of its funding—$40 billion annually—away from essential needs like #poverty and #hunger towards #climatechangeinitiative s.
#Climateactivists argue that addressing climate change should be the priority, claiming that a 2-3 degree rise in temperature will bring even greater trouble to poor nations.
But here's the reality: we cannot sacrifice the well-being of nations today for a hypothetical dystopia a century from now that isn't even proven. People suffer from #naturaldisaster s, preventable #disease s, #famine and unsanitary conditions because they are poor; the less financial resources they have, the less protection they can afford against #storms, #floods, and #hurricanes.
Even if #climatechange is real, we would be better off ensuring that everyone is well-fed, with electrified and warm homes, prepared and equipped to face challenges. Not preventing phenomena #nature of which we have no idea about. Imagine if even the poorest areas of #Bangladesh had access to #medicine, #electricity, #riverbanks and damms of the #Netherlands.
While 16% of the global population lives in wealthy nations enjoy high living standards, the rest of the world faces harsh conditions. In poorer countries, 5 million children die before their fifth birthday each year, nearly a billion people go hungry, and over 2 billion rely on polluting fuels like dung and wood to cook and stay warm.
These nations need cheap, reliable energy that allows rich countries to develop. Yet the World Bank is raiding development funds for climate spending. In Africa, electricity is so scarce that per-person usage is less than what a single refrigerator in the rich world consumes.
Spending on core development priorities delivers far better results than funnelling money into climate projects. Investments in fighting malaria, improving education, and boosting agricultural productivity can transform lives now, making poorer countries more resilient to climate impacts.
Last year saw the largest cereal production ever, and with rising incomes and yields, hunger will continue to decline. Climate change might slow this progress slightly, but it won’t stop it.
Instead of imposing costly green initiatives on poor nations, rich countries should invest in R&D to create and build low-cost, reliable energy solutions. Rich nations still rely on fossil fuels for nearly 80% of their energy but hypocritically refuse to fund fossil fuel projects for poorer nations.
They suggest the poor should "skip ahead" to unreliable solar and wind power—something the rich world wouldn’t accept for itself.
This is green hypocrisy at its worst. The World Bank’s climate-first approach betrays its mission to fight poverty. It’s time to focus on what truly matters: lifting people out of poverty and providing them with the affordable, dependable energy they need to thrive.
