Noticias

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Last week at COP26, almost 40 countries and institutions, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Mali, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Costa Rica, launched a joint statement committing to end direct international public finance for unabated coal, oil, and gas by the end of 2022 and to prioritize clean energy finance.

Yesterday afternoon the ten major multilateral development banks (MDBs) published their COP26 statement updating progress towards their joint commitment to Paris Alignment. Though the group of banks first committed in 2017 to a process to align their financial flows with a 1.5°C pathway and later pledged to complete this by 2020, yesterday’s statement provided few new details, posed no limits on fossil fuel support, and left timelines unclear.

As publicly-funded development banks, MDBs should become agents of transformative change, pushing for a green, just and resilient development model. For that, they need to scale up financing for sustainable, green development, help countries in pursuing equitable, low-carbon transitions, and end all support for fossil fuels. 

A new report by Big Shift member, Urgewald released this week tells the story of how the World Bank’s public assistance is behind the on-going development of Asia’s largest coal field – Pakistan’s Thar coal field and associated new coal power plants.

Today, the World Bank Group released its new Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) for 2021-2025. The CCAP represents a colossal failure to end the Bank’s long-standing support for fossil fuels.

The Bank has also rejected requests from civil society and World Bank shareholders for a public consultation on a full draft of the plan. The World Bank’s press release notes the Bank, “will regularly update its Board on the implementation of the Action Plan,” without providing further details of what aspects of the plan it will report on.

In a letter sent today, 153 organizations and academics across six continents called on the World Bank Group President David Malpass and WBG leadership to immediately adopt a whole-of-institution commitment to end all types of support for fossil fuels, including gas. The letter comes as the WBG prepares to publish its new Climate Change Action Plan.

Recently elected US President Joe Biden has promised action to combat climate change. On the first day of his presidency, he announced, ‘we’ve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis’.

Five years ago, negotiators were celebrating the adoption of the Paris Agreement. An agreement to unite global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Today, the fight for these global efforts continues as we witness the impact of climate change on frontline communities and the importance of fighting for climate justice for those who have contributed least to this crisis but who are suffering some of the worst impacts.

The Finance in Common Summit brought together over 420 public development banks (PDBs) including the multilateral development banks (MDBs) as well as regional and national development banks. Given the PDBs’ mandate for environmentally sustainable development, collaboration between these banks should have had the potential to catalyse investments and build momentum towards the achievement of the SDGs and the climate and biodiversity goals. 

The Finance in Common Summit, next week, will be the first ever meeting of all 450 public development banks including the Multilateral Development Banks as well as regional and national development banks from across the globe. The summit takes place on the 11th and 12th November and is organised by the AFD (French Development Agency), with the backing of President Macron and UN Secretary General Gutteres.

The World Bank Annual meetings which took place virtually last week, saw calls from Big Shift Coalition members and many others for the bank to green its COVID-19 response, to stop funding fossil fuels and contribute to building the world we want.

Read on for an overview of Big Shift actions around the meetings and an overview of some of the outcomes.

Nezir Sinani of Recourse (a member of the Big Shift Global campaign) writes about how the World Bank continues to prioritise fossil fuels and how it is failing to bring people out of fuel poverty in countries where Recourse and other Big Shift members have carried out research.

The Big Shift campaign is urging the World Bank to take bold decisions during its 2020 Annual Meetings to ensure the spending of public money as part of the COVID recovery is not making the climate crisis worse but ensuring a green, sustainable just recovery for all. The choices made now will have an impact for years to come.

Congratulations to Odette Renaud-Basso as the new president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the first woman to hold the permanent presidency of a major multilateral development bank.

With the start of this new presidency, members of the Big Shift Global Coalition have high expectations for the EBRD to become a truly green bank.

The decision about who will be the next candidate of the EBRD is due in October.

Whoever becomes president of the EBRD must lead the bank quickly and decisively to act on climate change and energy access for all.

There are three candidates in the running for the Presidency of the EBRD: Odile Renaud-Basso of France, Pier Carlo Padoan of Italy and Tadeusz Kościński of Poland. We want to hear from the candidates about how they will lead the bank on climate and energy access.

September marks two months until the Finance in Common Summit - the first ever meeting of all 450 public development banks. Development banks that hold $11.2 trillion in public assets. With huge amounts of public money being spent as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, decisions made now, including during the summit, about how to use these funds must include the acceleration of a sustainable, just recovery.

El Grupo del Banco Mundial (GBM) reconoce al cambio climático como una amenaza para el desarrollo mundial, que incrementa la inestabilidad y contribuye a la pobreza, la fragilidad y a las migraciones. En respuesta a esta problemática, en 2016 el GBM lanzó el Plan de Acción para el Clima (PAPC), en el que se establecieron objetivos generales a 2020 para contribuir al alivio de la pobreza mediante la creación de políticas, la resiliencia ante los impactos del cambio climático y el fomento de la descarbonización.

African CSOs, led by Big Shift Global member, ACSEA have sent a letter to the World Bank welcoming the Banks's new LEAP energy proposal but calling for more ambitious targets,  increased investment in energy access and greater consultation with those it will impact.  

Anna Östergren of SSNC and Nezir Sinani of Recourse have published a blog summarising the findings of their latest report, written with ACSEA, on the World Bank's energy and climate performance in Nigeria.

A Paris-aligned and just recovery to Covid-19 by the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) is a vital part of the global response. On 28th May, members of  the Big Shift Global Coalition organised a webinar to discuss this further with 4 panellists: Bronwen Tucker, OCI; Dileimy Orozco, E3G; Augustine Njamnshi, ACSEA and Andrew Scott, ODI, moderated by Vibeka Mair of Responsible Investor.

Africa Day is on 25 May. Big Shift Global member, the African Climate Reality Project has a tradition of using this day to amplify the call for a fossil free, low-carbon, and climate resilient future for the continent.

They have published an open letter calling on the African Development Bank to stop funding fossil fuels and shift to 100% renewables.

A coalition of faith-based organisations in the United States have launched a campaign  in support of Big Shift,  calling on the World Bank to end all support for fossil fuels and shift investment to renewable energy access in the time of COVID-19 and beyond.

Eugene N Nforngwa, Thematic Lead for Just Transition and Energy Access at the Pan-African Climate and Environmental Justice Alliance (PACJA) and Programmes Advisor at the Africa Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access (ACSEA) presents why renewable energy and just recovery are vital in the Covid-19 recovery planning process in Africa

Andrew Schwartz, Deputy Director at Center for Earth Ethics outlines how the response to the coronavirus crisis must increase resilience and minimise climate change by shifting funding from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Shortly before the World Bank holds its digital Spring Meeting, the NGO Urgewald and partner civil society organizations have sent a letter to Executive Directors to express concerns with the bank’s involvement in Guyana’s oil & gas development.

The global response to the coronavirus crisis continues to gather pace and emergency responses supporting health services and economies are vital at this stage for many across the globe. Just like the Covid-19 crisis, the impacts of climate change will be felt more acutely by the poorest and most vulnerable people. It is vital that the stimulus packages supported by MDBs address this and respond to both crises.

At COP25 in Madrid, Spain the nine multilateral development banks (MDBs) provided a public update on their joint commitment to Paris Alignment. Though the group of banks first committed to a process to align their financial flows with a 1.5°C pathway in 2017, yesterday's announcement provided few new details. 

Con el comienzo de la COP25, la coalición Big Shift pide a los Bancos Multilaterales de Desarrollo que alineen sus finanzas con el Acuerdo de París de 2015 incrementando sus inversiones en energía renovable, abandonando toda financiación a los combustibles fósiles y asegurando que publican sus avances de forma detallada.