Untapped trillions in the World Bank’s climate strategy

By ignoring natural capital, a huge investment opportunity is being missed and societies globally put at risk, writes Nicola Ranger. For the last three years, the World Bank has been rolling out a new class of country-level diagnostics: its Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs). Aiming to provide governments and partners with a blueprint for how to achieve climate-resilient, low-carbon development, these reports are already shaping national strategies, feeding directly into World Bank lending decisions and International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes, and guiding billions of dollars of investment. The Bank itself highlights them as a cornerstone of its mission to “end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a liveable planet”.