The World Bank recentlyextended its climate change policy framework indefinitely, but dropped its targets for the percentage of financing that must have climate-related impacts, according to a statement.
“We will complete our shift from inputs to outcomes to maximize development impact,” said a World Bank Group statement.
“We will retire the 45-percent climate co-benefits target and the 35-percent target in the (Climate Change Action Plan),” it said.
The United States, the World Bank’s largest shareholder, has abruptly changed policy on climate change under President Donald Trump, who has called it a “hoax” and ramped up spending on fossil fuels.
In April, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for the Bank to drop its climate finance targets, saying it “breeds inefficiency, distorts economic decision making, and moves the Bank away from its core mission.”
The World Bank statement said that further work on climate change outcomes would be driven by demand from client countries.
The Bank’s yearly climate financing targets under its Climate Change Action Plans (CCAPs) have largely been reached since work on the area began in 2016.
In 2025, 48 percent of the World Bank Group’s financing had “climate co-benefits,” amounting to roughly $50.8 billion, according to official data.
