Bank's focus on attracting private investment through energy privatisation raises concerns, as it puts private profits over sustainable energy systems, burdening governments with debt and making electricity less affordable for citizens.
World Bank fails in its commitment to accountability by disregarding communities’ participation all the way through project design, implementation and resulting remedy plans.
Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership bears the clear handprint of the World Bank’s private-sector led approach to power sectors in the Global South, creating opposition from unions and civil society.
Despite continued public rhetoric about importance of civil society engagement, Bank is yet to commit to holding a public consultation period on its Paris alignment approach.
New World Bank guidance on PPP legal frameworks evidence of institution’s continued reliance on PPPs as key to addressing SDG financing gap despite well-documented failures. Previous World Bank PPP contracts template criticised for incompatibility with human rights norms.
World Bank trust fund ESMAP will provide support for domestic market, while IFC will support private sector investment in CCUS.
UN official and civil society criticise World Bank and other MDBs for lack of ambition at COP26.
Plan lacks detail in key areas, including concrete commitments to end fossil fuels support.
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum session on 25 April 2025, titled "Mission 300: The high-stakes pursuit of energy transition in Africa"
While IFC’s withdrawal is welcome, civil society urges the Bank to stop funding WTE projects and move towards zero-waste solutions instead.
Donald Trump’s election may result in a revision of World Bank’s long-standing prohibition of support to nuclear power.
Explicit mention of human rights obligations has long been a taboo subject at the World Bank.
World Bank’s commercial insurance arm provided nearly $850 million in guarantees for gas projects in Bangladesh and Mozambique in fiscal year 2022.
Chad has reached an agreement to restructure its nearly $3 billion of external debt, unlocking IMF financing, but the deal has been criticised for failing to reduce the country’s overall debt burden.
Loophole in renegotiated Energy Charter Treaty could see companies sue countries for losses related to fossil fuel projects until 2033.
Pakistan increases fuel prices in effort to meet IMF conditions, while cost of importing LNG surges.
New BWP briefing finds the World Bank counted 70 per cent of energy-sector reforms in Development Policy Financing as having 'climate co-benefits' between 2018-2023 - but most of these promoted a private-led energy transition.
