In September, the Bretton Woods Project published a briefing examining the fossil fuel investments of multilateral development banks (MDBs), including the International Finance Corporation (the World Bank Group’s private sector arm), Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The briefing found that despite calling for urgent action to tackle climate change, the MDBs have invested $20 billion in fossil fuel companies over the last 10-15 years. The majority of investments reviewed are in firms listed on stock exchanges, which already have some access to capital, and risk losing money if ‘unburnable’ fossil fuel investments lose significant value.