This week, the World Bank Group (WBG) announced its five-year ‘Action Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience’, set to commence at the end of June 2021. Under the new plan, average yearly funding has doubled from fiscal year 2015-18, reaching $50 billion at an average of $10 billion per year across fiscal year 2021-25.

Kristalina Georgieva, WBG Executive Officer, said: ‘Our new plan will put climate resilience on an equal footing with our investment in a low-carbon future for the first time. We do this because, simply put, the climate is changing so we must mitigate and adapt at the same time.’

In the foreword of the action plan, Georgieva recognises how climate change impacts communities of poverty at a magnified level: ‘At the World Bank, we are supporting countries to invest in and build a low-carbon, climate-resistant future so that they are better prepared to deal with current and future climate impacts. These impacts – deadly heat waves, destroyed vital infrastructure, disrupted food and water supplies, flooded homes, schools and hospitals – disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable.’

The new strategy focuses on three objectives, including increasing adaptation financing, managing climate risks through a mainstreamed approach, and creating a new rating system to improve tracking and create incentives for adaptation and resilience-related investments.

‘I am personally committed to building global awareness of the critical urgency for action. Adaptation matters. It is up to each one of us to do everything possible to address climate change and its devastating impacts. If we do not, our children and grandchildren will not forgive us,’ said Georgieva.

‘The Action Plan on Climate Change Adaption and Resilience’ covers part of the WBG’s 2025 Targets to Step Up Climate Action, which were released in December 2018.

Read and download the full report here: http://www.worldbank.org/