World Bank's Banga wants to make gains in tackling the effects of climate change, poverty and war
It's a full agenda for Ajay Banga as he nears the end of his first year as World Bank president
WASHINGTON — There was no shortage of stressors to the global economy when Ajay Banga took charge at the World Bank almost a year ago: inflation eating at nations drowning in debt, a once-in-a-generation pandemic, climate disasters and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Factor in the Israel-Hamas war and rising tensions between powerful nations, and today's agenda is even fuller as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold their spring meetings in Washington this week.
“The world’s intertwined challenges of poverty — which clearly we have seen great setbacks over the past few years — combined with fragility and conflict and violence, combined with climate change, is coming into a perfect storm,” Banga said in an interview with The Associated Press. «We need to put all of our efforts into this.”
Banga highlighted new initiatives being announced at the meetings, including plans to provide 300 million people in Africa with electricity by 2030 and 1.5 billion people worldwide with health care access over the same time frame.
He stressed the bank's role in financing climate projects and renewing its focus on major cross-border projects that can affect large numbers of people, especially as member nations increasingly compete in trade and isolationism is on the rise.
Banga took over after David Malpass resigned as the bank's president last June following a backlash when Malpass appeared to cast doubt on the science that says the burning of fossil fuels causes global warming. Malpass apologized and said he had misspoken.
President Joe Biden, who nominated Banga, said upon Banga's approval by the bank's board that the
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