Latest World Bank News
Fossil fuels influence and other takeaways from Monday's climate conference events
The influence of the fossil fuel industry at the United Nations annual climate conference, commonly called COP28, was a focal point on Monday with the president of the talks pushing back against criticism that his role heading a fossil fuel company conflicted with the need to reduce fossil fuel...
Fund to compensate developing nations for climate change is unfinished business at COP28
NEW DELHI (AP) — Sunil Kumar watched helplessly in July as his home and 14 others were washed away by intense monsoon rains lashing the Indian Himalayas. “All my life’s work vanished in an instant. Starting over feels impossible, especially with my three children relying on...
Long walk to school: 30 years into freedom, many kids in South Africa still walk miles to class
DUNDEE, South Africa (AP) — On weekdays, 14-year-old Luyanda Hlali gets up before dawn to fetch firewood and cow dung to start a fire and boil some water before her four siblings and parents wake up. The mornings are a hive of activity in the Nhlangothi home, in the tiny village...
COP28 conference looks set for conflict after tense negotiations on climate damage fund
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Tense negotiations at the final meeting on a climate-related loss and damages fund — an international fund to help poor countries hit hard by a warming planet — ended Saturday in Abu Dhabi, with participants agreeing that the World Bank would temporarily host the fund...
Oil prices could reach 'uncharted waters' if the Israel-Hamas war escalates, the World Bank says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank reported on Monday that oil prices could be pushed into “uncharted waters” if the violence between Israel and Hamas widens, which could result in increased food prices worldwide. The World Bank’s Commodity Markets Outlook found that while the...
The World Bank approved a $1B loan to help blackout-hit South Africa's energy sector
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The World Bank approved a $1 billion loan for South Africa on Wednesday to help it address an energy crisis that has peaked this year with the country's worst electricity blackouts. The energy problem has forced the country to lean on its highly polluting coal-fired...
IMF and World Bank are urged to boost funding for African nations facing conflict and climate change
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Many poor countries in Africa face the harshest effects of climate change: severe droughts, vicious heat and dry land, but also unpredictable rain and devastating flooding. The shocks worsen conflict and upend livelihoods because many people are farmers — work that is...
China touts its Belt and Road infrastructure lending as an alternative for international development
BEIJING (AP) — China is touting its 10-year-old Belt and Road Initiative as an alternative model for economic development, releasing a government report that praises the program while glossing over criticism that it has saddled poor countries with too much debt. The program...
IMF and World Bank pledge Africa focus at first meetings on the continent in 50 years
MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — In the shadow of a deadly earthquake in Morocco that caused nearly $12 billion in damage, the world's most powerful economic policymakers said they would focus on Africa as they work to grow and stabilizing the global economy during times of war, inequality and climate...
IMF chief says the global economy has shown resilience in the face of COVID, war and high rates
WASHINGTON (AP) — The global economy has shown “remarkable resilience’’ but still bears deep scars from the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday. “While the recovery from the shocks of...
