The World Bank Group announced the launch of its second Climate Change Action Plan, marking a shift in the organization’s climate focus from greening projects to entire economies, and from inputs to impact.

The World Bank provides a wide array of financial products and technical assistance throughout developing world countries, with the goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The organization’s new action plan aims to support countries and private sector clients to address climate and development challenges together, with a view to climate action as fundamental to achieving its poverty and prosperity goals.

According to the World Bank, under the new 5-year plan, the organization will broaden its focus from investing in green projects to helping countries integrate their climate and development goals. One of the key aspects of the plan includes facilitating a significant increase in climate finance, with a commitment to increase delivery to an average of 35% of total World Bank Group financing for climate over the next five years. Under the prior 5-year plan, the organization delivered over $83 billion in climate finance, including a record $21.4 billion in 2020.

Other highlights of the plan include identifying opportunities for high-impact climate action to inform future World Bank Group engagements, utilizing a new diagnostic tool – the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) – to help countries align climate action and development efforts and absorb new climate-related technologies, supporting countries’ Paris Agreement-based strategies and goals, and catalyzing and mobilizing private capital for climate action.

The plan also aims to prioritize key systems that must be transformed in order to address climate change, including energy, agriculture, food, water, and land, cities, transport, and manufacturing.

World Bank Group President David Malpass said:

“Our new Action Plan will identify and prioritize action on the most impactful mitigation and adaptation opportunities, and we will drive our climate finance accordingly. This means helping the largest emitters flatten the emissions curve and helping countries achieve successful adaptation and resilience to climate change. We will be delivering climate finance at record levels and seeking solutions that achieve the most impact.”

Click here to view the World bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan.