Making a Moment: Driving Leadership Change at the World Bank
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no place for climate denial at the world bank
Sometimes change comes because the right someone speaks up and turns an event into a cultural moment.
That's exactly what happened at a New York Times Climate Forward event in September 2022. Former Vice President Al Gore was getting ready to go onstage, when he glanced at the program agenda and saw who else was scheduled to appear.
And he had to say something about it.
“We need to get a new head of the World Bank, for God’s sake,” he told the interviewer, reporter David Gelles, “It’s ridiculous to have a climate denier as the head of the World Bank.”
The climate denier in question was World Bank President David Malpass – and ridiculous is right. Leading the planet’s largest multilateral development bank and an institution tasked with ending extreme poverty, Malpass had overseen billions in lending to fossil fuel projects increasing climate disasters and poverty worldwide.
Hours later, it was Malpass’ turn onstage. But given the chance to clarify his position and acknowledge the scientific consensus on human activity changing our climate, he could only duck the question, ultimately blurting out, “I’m not a scientist.”
The world took notice.
The story of Vice President Gore’s comments caught fire in the media, creating a moment of opportunity to highlight the bank’s long history of fossil fuel funding – and press for change.
At Climate Reality, we had to seize the moment and began months of op-eds in publications like TIME magazine, digital petitions, and media campaigns to keep the story in the headlines and put pressure on Malpass.
Soon, we had help, with US Senator Ed Markey galvanizing the Senate to replace Malpass and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen publicly demanding the bank do more to tackle the climate threat.
The pressure paid off. Thanks in part to these efforts, Malpass announced his early retirement in February 2023.
The change mattered. The man succeeding Malpass, former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, has charted a new course for the bank, expanding its mission to incorporate climate action and increasing climate commitments to 45% of annual lending. That means clean energy bringing cheap clean energy to more communities worldwide and less climate pollution at a critical moment.
And it all started with Vice President Gore speaking up.
Making a moment in the media
