The White House criticized this Friday the climatic positions of the president of the World Bank (WB), David Malpass, who refused to recognize the role of fossil fuels in global warming.
We do not agree with the president’s statements [do Banco Mundial, David] Malpass. We look to the World Bank to be an international driver of climate ambition,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Malpass has been under ‘fire’ this week, accused of being “skeptical” about climate changeafter former US vice president Al Gore stated that the president of the World Bank was “climate skeptical” for not having strengthened the financing of climate projects in developing countries.
Invited on Tuesday to speak about these accusations during a round table organized by the New York Times, the president of the World Bank refused three times to say whether he recognizes the role of fossil fuels in global warming.
“I’m not a scientist,” he ended up saying, pressured by the public, preferring to highlight the “enormous effort” of the World Bank to help finance the fight against global warming.
Malpass’s responses provoked the indignation of several non-governmental organizations specialized in the environmentwho asked for his departure, but the White House spokeswoman recalled that this “requires the agreement of the majority of the shareholders.”
“I am not going to resign and I have never considered that possibility,” Malpass responded this Friday, questioned by the Politico website, adding that none of the member states of the world financial institution requested his resignation.
In the same medium, Malpass stressed that “Man-made greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming”a statement he had already made, the day before, to CNN, and said he was “confused” and not “always good at answering questions”, justifications that did not calm the criticism.
Malpass’s political profile is no stranger to the attention he receives on climate issues. Republican and Undersecretary of the Treasury, responsible for Donald Trump’s international economic relations, he was appointed in 2019 by the former US president to head the World Bank after the resignation of his compatriot, Jim Yong Kim.
According to the default nomination model, the US chooses the president of the World Bank, while Europe decides on the management of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Source: Observadora
