Infrastructure

News

US cuts funding to World Bank Climate Fund

14 June 2011

The Clean Technology Fund (CTF), one of the controversial Bank-housed Climate Investment Funds (CIFs, see Update 75, 73, 68), was a victim of the 2011 US budget deal, which passed in April. The US has pledged $1.4 billion to the CTF. US president Barack Obama requested a $400 million 2011 disbursal of this pledge, but negotiations between the Democratic party-controlled Senate and Republican party-controlled House of Representatives resulted in a budget allocation of only $185 million. This was not as radical a reduction as that proposed by Republicans, who initially called for a complete axing of funding to the CTF.