“It’s one of the great injustices of this era that countries contributing negligible amounts to global carbon emissions are now feeling the most harrowing impacts of climate change,” opens the New York Times editorial on the World Bank. The Times is correct, though not in the way it intends. It is indeed unfair that international organizations run by wealthy, industrialized countries are seeking to make it more difficult for developing countries to use fossil fuels to power their development.
The Times also notes, “For years, climate financing took a back seat to the bank’s twin goals of reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.” Good. Wealthy countries should not use poor countries as test cases for the green agenda.
The share of the world’s population in extreme poverty has plunged from 36 percent in 1995 to below 10 percent today. But the Covid pandemic has stopped extreme poverty’s decline. Restoring strong economic growth will require cheap and abundant energy, especially in poor countries. Strong economic growth should be the priority of economic institutions. Climate financing should take a back seat, and it should get comfortable there.