In a recent opinion piece published in The Guardian, World Bank Group researcher Jake Hess shared a laundry list of complaints about his employer, including the charge that it is failing in its response to climate change. I don’t know Mr. Hess, and have never been employed by the World Bank Group, but I have spent the better part of the past two decades working in international development while based primarily in the developing country most at risk to the effects of climate change (the Philippines).
I am also intimately familiar with the workings of the multilateral development banks (MDBs), as I used to work for one, interacting regularly with professionals working in others. These institutions, including the World Bank Group, are imperfect creatures with a very diverse public sector membership that often has difficulty reaching agreement on bold action demanded by the circumstances at hand. The MDBs are bureaucratic and can be slow to respond to emerging crises. The way they are built and guided by their sovereign owners promotes risk aversion and compromise. They are thus easy targets for criticism, whether fair or not.
It is therefore remarkable that when it comes to its response to climate, World Bank Group leadership — backed by that diverse membership — has embraced action, and is backing it up with some big…
