The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund will hold their annual meetings next week in Washington, DC. It is time for Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to give direct guidance to the World Bank to renew funding and loans for fossil fuels for the world’s poorest. The World Bank should return to its mandate of poverty reduction, instead of climate emissions reduction.
The World Bank has banned fossil fuel finance and loan guarantees since 2019. The idea behind denying investments and funding for fossil fuels was that it would force people to adopt renewable energy. However, with no modern energy option, people turn to burning of dung, wood and other biomass for cooking and other basic functions. The result of this policy is increased emissions, pollution and health endangerment.
The World Bank describes its mission as “To create a world free of poverty — on a livable planet.” However, in reality, the World Bank promotes policies that increase energy poverty and thus overall poverty among the world’s poorest, especially in Africa. Instead of focusing on poverty elimination, the World Bank has committed to allocating 45% of its funds in 2025 to climate finance and announced its intention to increase climate finance over the next five years.
In another blatant example of its choosing to reduce carbon emissions over poverty, the World Bank promotes imposing carbon taxes in Africa on imported fossil fuels. If implemented, these taxes would lead to higher prices for electricity and transportation, which would further increase energy poverty on the continent. It is difficult to understand how raising energy costs in Africa is part of the World Bank’s poverty reduction mandate.
The lack of public funding for fossil fuels particularly hurt Africa. For the first time in decades, electricity access declined in Africa in 2022 and 2023. The halting of foreign investments and loans meant that Africans could not develop their local oil and natural gas resources. While in the West the private market provides investments for energy production, Africa is dependent on public finance to develop energy and on World Bank loan guarantees to create conditions to attract foreign investors.
In prioritizing of emissions reductions over poverty reduction, the World Bank promotes relatively expensive electricity systems, which deliver less energy access to Africa than fossil fuel based systems. Unreliable renewable electricity, especially off-grid solar, does not provide sufficient power for Africans to lift themselves out of poverty. Partial electricity can power a lamp or charge a phone, but not industry, water pumps and refrigeration, which are necessary for poverty reduction and modern medicine access.
Thus, due to the policy of promoting solar over fossil fuel derived power, many of the world’s new electricity users do not have full electricity access. The US and other World Bank funders should not allow the World Bank to count partial electricity provision as access to power.
In Africa, the World Bank no longer promotes policies for provision of baseload power in electricity supply, in order to avoid admitting that Africa needs fossil fuels. There is no large-scale stable electricity without baseload power.
The World Bank also regularly lists climate change as a main factor affecting Africa’s economy and development while not mentioning the continent’s lack of energy, which of course is a much more significant factor affecting its prosperity.
The World Bank and other Western institutions retreat from fossil fuel finance has created a significant geopolitical opportunity for China. China is willing to finance fossil fuel projects in Africa and the developing world and reap the strategic benefit of control of energy infrastructure in many countries.
Bessent’s predecessor at Treasury, Secretary Janet Yellen issued guidance to the World Bank and associate multilateral banks to stop funding for fossil fuels projects in 2021. It is time for Secretary Bessent to reverse this policy and lead the World Bank back to its mission of poverty alleviation.
Prof. Brenda Shaffer is an energy expert at the U.S. Naval Post-graduate School. @ProfBShaffer
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
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Emissions need to be defined and their pros and cons evaluated scientifically. The term “Emissions” covers such a wide range of gases and solids, some good and some bad that on its own the term is meaningless. Yet governments and power brokers use the term to formulate policy with absolutely no understanding of what is meant.
The US contributes about $4 Billion per year to the world bank. It seems time to stop such funding and instead, contribute to some other organization which will use the money to reduce poverty in countries that need it and to fund fossil fueled electric power to that end. Perhaps President Trump has already done that?
The Chinese lead in nation building for hire seems too far along to catch them at this point. Visual news coverage would have helped show that in recent years.
The world’s first and greatest President needs to fix this sooner rather than later.
Trump survived the assassin’s bullets to do this good work. Looks like his work in South America is delivering now. Fewer mind numbing drugs to USA and more oil into the global market – a win win.
The problem is that the UK, EU, and the Democratic Party are devoted to “renewables” despite any evidence to the contrary. The World Bank is just following their political direction.
Correct. I guess we’re seeing effects of no scientists or engineers in the diplomat ranks, just political science majors.
They are all following Marxist ideology. AGW, renewables, immigration, kill the Christian, promote chaos with untethered crime, demonize Capitalism and the ‘West’, Agenda 21/30, are all part of the same plan.
If it weren’t for “renewables”, the deplorables would become the laudables.
We can’t have that, can we?
I still think members of the so-called “green movement” are essentially eugenicists
When one sits in a comfy office in one of the world’s imperial cities it is very easy to lose sight, or lose what little sight one ever had, of how things work. So, it’s easy to conclude when speaking with a representative of some NGO that a tiny wind turbine will provide some amount of light to extend the workday for poor Africans. Unexamined is the underlying assumption that Africans are poor because they don’t work enough hours rather than not having the raw power, provided most reliably by fossil fuels, to do work at a rate that is say 10 times, or 100 times, that of a human laborer.
And when it comes to the poverty of Africa, what fraction of World Bank loans actually reach the level of workers, builders, etc. after large amounts are skimmed off by politicians, bureaucrats and NGO executives?
The World Bank describes its mission as “To create a world free of poverty — on a livable planet.”
They really are all in La La Land these days. Net zero turbocharged higher than ever energy prices equals a reduction in poverty?
We’ve – reportedly by the MO – had the hottest year ever – even though it’s only October…
“Summer 2025 is the warmest on record for the UK” – Met Office
And yet – throw that down the memory hole…
UK weather: Met Office issues snow forecast for later this month as temperatures set to plunge to -1C in just weeks – GBNews
Autumn has come swiftly this year, had it really been as warm as they say it was very short lived. A day or two. Still, if you do happen to see any global warming give it a wave.
Who needs spies and moles in the UK when you have NGOs with bad agendas doing it for you.
I thought the photo at the top might be the person needing a knock on his noggin regarding poverty versus Carbon Dioxide. But no – that’s the man the author wants to do the knocking. There likely are not enough pixels to show all those needing to hear the message.
The World Bank Group Boards of Directors refers to four separate Boards of Directors, namely the Board of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Each Board is responsible for the general operations of their respective organization.
There are also ministerial committees and governors and alternate governors, apparently appointed by each of 189 member countries. Not mentioned are office help, tech types, and who knows? With all the people needing salaries, offices, lodging, travel, food & drink, and other stuff – it is no wonder the poverty peg doesn’t move.
The World Bank leaders must be living on a different planet. Here on our planet, things are not only “livable” but they are actually about as good as it gets in terms of climate. Sure, we get bad weather now and then. So what? We don’t control the weather, and certainly not climate. It is the ultimate in both hubris and stupidity to think otherwise.
They don’t care about living, just lining the pockets.
Greg Palast secret documents IMF’s and World Bank
Would that be the same World Bank and IMF that has a 4 step plan for any nation to be taken over and stripped of assets.
Step One is Privatization – which Stiglitz said could more accurately be called, ‘Briberization.’ Rather than object to the sell-offs of state industries, national leaders – using the World Bank’s demands to silence local critics – happily flogged their electricity and water companies at the prospect of 10% commissions paid to Swiss bank accounts for simply shaving a few billion off the sale price of national assets.
Step Two Capital Market Liberalization. – Stiglitz calls this the “Hot Money” cycle. Cash comes in for speculation in real estate and currency, then flees at the first whiff of trouble. A nation’s reserves can drain in days, hours. And when that happens, to seduce speculators into returning a nation’s own capital funds, the IMF demands these nations raise interest rates to 30%, 50% and 80%.
Step Three: Market-Based Pricing w/ Step-Three-and-a-Half: what Stiglitz calls, “The IMF riot.” This economic arson has it’s bright side – for foreign corporations, who can then pick off remaining assets, such as the odd mining concession or port, at fire sale prices. A pattern emerges. There are lots of losers in this system but one clear winner: the Western banks and US Treasury, making the big bucks off this crazy new international capital churn.
Step Four of what the IMF and World Bank call their “poverty reduction strategy” Free Trade. Taking a World Bank loan for a school ‘triggers’ a requirement to accept every ‘conditionality’ – they average 111 per nation – laid down by both the World Bank and IMF. In fact, said Stiglitz the IMF requires nations to accept trade policies more punitive than the official WTO rules.
Written in 2001 with examples of 1995 Russia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil. Greece was just later in line.
http://www.gregpalast.com/the-globalizer-who-came-in-from-the-cold/
China is the global nation builder in this generation while the US Dems and EU are the squanderers of past glory using sovereign debt load to carry the theme too far without apology.
China is a nation builder like a loan shark is a small business investor.
But only if they can get a hold of the gravel they need… </Empire of Dust>
Story tip
Miliband Refused to Discuss North Sea With Me, Says Ratcliffe
I asked him whether he could explain his policy on energy and the North Sea, but he wasn’t prepared to engage. He said, ‘I’m sorry, but that’s my policy. I’m not prepared to talk about it’.
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/10/11/miliband-refused-to-discuss-north-sea-with-me-says-ratcliffe/
“It’s mine, you can’t have it and mummy said I don’t have to share!” – Ed Miliband, probably.
I’m still struggling to get my head around how all the back ‘n forth flows of money borrowing & lending works between countries.
We’re told that for example the US is $trillions in debt, yet it’s still lending money left, right & centre to all manner of other countries & organizations.
Same with China.
I mean, if my card was maxed-out / exceeding limit, no way would I be good for a loan to any of my dodgy mates, no matter how desperate they were to attend a conference in Davos.
Mr.
US gets away with that only because 1) we have the world’s reserve cuurency, and 2) we have the largest and deepest capital market and #3) most other countries have done a worse job with their market economies making ours look better.
#1) means we can print money (devalue the dollar) up until the point inflation develops [see Mr Biden’s “Inflation Induction Act” of 2022 for details] and
#2) happened because up until the last several decades we’ve allowed the most liberal form of market capitalism. and
#3) Our infatuation with “industrial policy” over the last few years will ruin # 1 & 2.
Marxism and climatism are religious beliefs that have been taught by our school systems (I thought no religious teachings in schools???) for over three decades. Now these religious fanatics are in the leadership in every institution. We won’t get them out easily.
We don’t live in a high trust society anymore. Western Civilization is dead, what we have now is a return of tribalism and warlords vying for regional power. The World Bank is a luxury for the West that existed to prop up supplier countries to keep Western costs low by leveraging the labor of poverty waged workers to underwrite the costs of our goods.
and by propping up, I mean, as Matt Benz has pointed out, that is to control corrupt foreign government and the agitators within because the spice must flow.
Immoral as the concept is, the World Bank has ceased even that function and now is purely an extremely corrupt organization that funnels money to overthrow the West while lavishly rewarding bureaucrats, the elite and other Globalists. The IMF is biting the hand that fed it.
Since it can’t be reformed, it must be destroyed and all of its contacts and programs cast to the wind so that another will not arise quickly in its place.
I put no stock in the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. But they are meeting in the US that is a good thing. Someone from the administration needs to address this meeting and inform them that the US will not be a party to their current policy. Following the speech the power to the meeting place should be reduced to whatever the wind and solar contribution to the US grid is. I don’t know what the percentage is but I doubt it is more than 15 or 20 percent. I’m sure the meeting facility has a smart meter this should be easy to do. These outfits shouldn’t operate with better resources than they expect Africa and other developing nations to operate under. And naturally if the meeting place is served with natural gas it must be shut off completely.
i don’t like these guys.
EUROPE USING WIND AND SOLAR TO WEAKEN THE US AND KEEP AFRICA IN POVERTY
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/europe-using-wind-and-solar-to-weaken-us-and-keep-africa-in
Woke Western Governments
They proclaimed, Go Wind and Solar, Go ENERGIEWENDE, go Net zero by 2050, etc., and provide oodles of subsidies, and rules and regulations, and mandates, and prohibitions to make it happen.
Liberal arts enviros tumbling over each other while agitating for the latest irrational measures.
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Net-zero by 2050 to-reduce CO2 is a super-expensive suicide pact, to 1) increase command/control by governments, and 2) enable the moneyed elites to become more powerful and richer, at the expense of all others, by using the foghorn of the government-subsidized/controlled Corporate Media to spread scare-mongering slogans and brainwash people, already for at least 50 years.
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The moneyed elites have their own generators on their multiple estates
Never is there a hint regarding restrictions on yachts, private planes and estate sizes
The elites just want to collect never-ending streams of untaxed money, at the expense of all others, just like European Royalty.
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Go Wind and Solar?
At about 30% annual W/S electricity on the grid, various costs increase exponentially
The W/S systems kill birds, bats, whales, dolphins, damage fisheries, tourism, and uglify viewsheds, etc.
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The weather-dependent, variable/intermittent W/S output, often too-little and often too-much, creates grid-disturbing difficulties that become increasingly more challenging and more costly/kWh to counteract, as proven by the UK and California for the past 5 years, and Germany for the past 10 years, and recently in Spain/Portugal.
All have “achieved” near-zero, real- growth GDPs, the highest electricity prices/kWh in the EU, and stagnant real wages for almost all households, while further enriching the jet-setting elites who live in the poshest places.
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Down-trodden legal Americans often have to put up with the visual ugliness and noise of hundreds of windmills, that are often idle, because of too little wind year-round, and many thousands of acres of solar panels, that are often covered with snow and ice in winter; there is no solar at night.
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Angry Populations
Angry, over-taxed, over-regulated legal Europeans and Americans are further burdened by the elites bringing in tens of millions of uninvited, unvetted, uneducated, inexperienced poor folks from all over; a chaotic, culture-clashing burden the native populations never voted for.
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The tens of millions of over-taxed, over-regulated, already-impoverished US people are trying to make ends meet in the US economy
The US economy has lots of low-tech/low-pay/low-benefit, b.s. jobs
The US economy has lots of woke, leftist bureaucrats
Screwed-over legal Americans also have to pay for poverty-stricken, aliens of different cultures from all over, who illegally enter the US, a federal felony, or legally enter, but overstay their visas, a federal felony
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Illegal Walk-ins Encouraged by Elites of Third World Governments
US-hating Third World governments are emptying their crime/drug-infested, poor neighborhoods, jails and mental institutions and, in cahoots with Soros/Biden NGOs, are shipping tens of millions of their undesirables to Europe and the US
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Illegals Mainly Suck from the Government Tit
Those unvetted, illegals, from all-over:
– Are getting free housing, free food, a never-empty credit card, free phones, free healthcare, free education, free job training, free driving license and whatever other goodies they want.
– Democrats want Federal programs (US taxpayers) to provide these goodies to buy votes.
– Have no skills, no training, no education, no modern industrial experience.
– Will take low-tech/low-pay/low-benefit jobs at 30% less than legal Americans
– Are often good at crime, murder, rape, drug and human trafficking, and driving vehicles into native merrymakers.
– Are incompatible, subversive, would rather undermine, instead of fight for traditional European and US values and culture.
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Many millions of illegal aliens have to be shipped back to where they came from, before they forever ruin the US, as they ruined Europe, France, the UK, Ireland, Spain, etc.
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Europe Wants to Keep African People Poor to Further Enrich Itself
Europe wants to have the natural resources and fossil fuels of Africa, preferably for free
Europe does not want the poor African people to use their own fossil fuels
Europe wants to expand its wind and solar industries
Europe, IMF, World Bank makes loans to poor African countries to buy expensive European wind and solar systems, that produce expensive electricity.
When something goes wrong, the African people cannot repair them, but still must service the loans.
A new form of long-term colonialist exploitation and dependency.
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NEW COAL ELECTRICITY LESS COSTLY, AVAILABLE NOW, NOT PIE IN THE SKY, LIKE EXPENSIVE FUSION AND SMALL MODULAR NUCLEAR
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/coal-electricity-less-costly-available-now-not-pie-in-the-sky
It is very easy for coal to compete with wind and solar
In the US, Utilities are forced to buy offshore wind electricity for about 15 cents/kWh.
That price would have been 30 cents/kWh, if no 50% subsidies.
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Offshore wind full cost of electricity FCOE = 30 c/kWh + 11 c/kWh = 41 c/kWh, no subsidies
Offshore wind full cost of electricity FCOE = 15 c/kWh + 11 c/kWh = 26 c/kWh, 50% subsidies
The 11 c/kWh is for various measures required by wind and solar; power plant-to-landfill cost basis.
This compares with 7 c/kWh + 2 c/kWh = 9 c/kWh from existing gas, coal, nuclear, large reservoir hydro plants.
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Coal gets very little direct subsidies in the US.
Here is an example of the lifetime cost of a coal plant.
The key is running steadily at 90% output for 50 years, on average
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Assume mine-mouth coal plant in Wyoming; 1800 MW (three x 600 MW); turnkey-cost $10 b; life 50 y; CF 0.9; no direct subsidies.
Payments to bank, $5 b at 6% for 50 y; $316 million/y x 50 = $15.8 b
Payments to Owner, $5 b at 10% for 50 y; $504 million/y x 50 = $21.2 b
Lifetime production, base-loaded, 1800 x 8766 x 0.9 x 50 = 710,046,000 MWh
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Wyoming coal, low-sulfur, no CO2 scrubbers needed, at mine-mouth $15/US ton, 8600 Btu/lb, plant efficiency 40%, Btu/ton = 2000 x 8600 = 17.2 million
Lifetime coal use = 710,046,000,000 kWh/y x (3412 Btu/kWh/0.4)/17,200,000 Btu/US ton = 353 million US ton
Lifetime coal cost = $5.3 billion
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The Owner can deduct interest on borrowed money, and can depreciate the entire plant over 50 y, or less, which helps him achieve his 10% return on investment.
Those are general government subsidies, indirectly charged to taxpayers and/or added to government debt.
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Other costs:
Fixed O&M (labor, maintenance, insurance, taxes, land lease)
Variable O&M (water, chemicals, lubricants, waste disposal)
Fixed + Variable, newer plants 2 c/kWh, older plants up to 4 c/kWh
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Year 1 Cost
O&M = $0.02/kWh x 710,046,000 MWh/50 y x 1000 kWh/MWh = $0.284 b
Coal = $15/US ton x 353 million US ton/50 y = 0.106 b
Bank/Owner = (15.8, Bank + 21.2, Owner)/50 y= 0.740 b
Total = 1.130 b
Revenue = $0.08/kWh x 710,046,000 MWh/50 x 1000 kWh/MWh = $1.136 b
Total revenue equals total cost at about 8 c/kWh
Banks and Owners get 0.74/1.136 = 65% of the project revenues
For lower electricity cost/kWh, borrow more money, say 70%
Traditional Nuclear has similar economics; life 60 to 80 y; CF 0.9 in the US.
China realized long ago that only fossil fuels could provide the energy it needed for the type of economic growth it has been aiming at and achieving. That’s why it’s the planet’s largest consumer of coal. It may be adding a relatively large amount of renewables, but this is relative to what other countries are doing. Except the increase in wind and solar is only supplementing, not replacing, its fossil fuel use. So when African nations look around and see how China and India are enjoying economic growth by utilizing coal, oil and natural gas, they realize the way to go is to do the same, and to ignore agencies like the World Bank and UN who are trying to claim a renewables agenda that just looks good but in actuality can’t provide the reliable, consistent power that’s actually needed.
“It is difficult to understand how raising energy costs in Africa is part of the World Bank’s poverty reduction mandate”, Offset it with government grants, from the west of course.
There is no real evidence that CO2 has any effect on our global climate. The AGW hypothesis has been falsified by science. Hence the World Banks actions have no effect on our global climate.