By Faridat Salifu
The World Bank’s head of climate and development policy has criticised industrialised countries for scaling back their financial commitments to development and climate action.
Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director of the World Bank, said the decline in funding from OECD countries has especially harmed global poverty reduction efforts.
Speaking in an interview with Table.Briefings, van Trotsenburg warned that many wealthy nations were failing to honour climate finance pledges made in international forums.
He stated that development finance has suffered over the past decade due to the withdrawal of support by too many countries.
According to him, large public promises have repeatedly gone unfulfilled, leaving lower-income countries without the resources needed to meet development and climate goals.
Van Trotsenburg stressed that institutions such as the World Bank remain committed to supporting climate and poverty reduction agendas.
He said public financial institutions were continuing to play their role, even as donor countries scale back.
His remarks come amid growing criticism from the Global South over the lack of non-debt climate finance from developed countries.
The interview adds to a wider debate at climate forums such as SB62 in Bonn, where the credibility of wealthy countries on climate finance is being questioned.
