IMF, World Bank leaders pledge at UN climate summit to work with Trump

THE HEADS of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said they would work with the incoming US president, Republican , underscoring the importance of private sector funding for developing countries hit by climate change.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva told a panel during the United Nations (UN) Conference of the Parties (COP29) climate summit in Azerbaijan that the global lender had worked with Mr. Trump during his previous term and looked forward to doing so again. “They have a mandate from the American people,” she said.

Asked about the impact of Mr. Trump’s election on the IMF’s climate work, Ms. Georgieva said she was confident that the US private sector would continue to invest in green technologies. “It is the business proposition to stay ahead of the curve, and I have no doubt that this will continue,” she said.

The election of Mr. Trump, who is expected to pull the United States back from global efforts to fight climate change, has raised questions about the ability of the IMF and the World Bank — the US is the largest shareholder in both — to ramp up funding for countries around climate-related issues.

This year’s COP29 summit is focused on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit the climate damage caused by carbon emissions by the world’s largest countries, including the US.

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, said Mr. Trump’s historical win, which demanded respect, highlighted the bank’s work to become more efficient and effective, while encouraging increasing private investment in climate finance. “He’s going to have opinions. We’re going to talk to him. That’s our job,” he said, noting that during his 17 months at the bank, political leadership had also changed in the bank’s four other biggest donors — Germany, France, Japan and Britain.

Mr. Trump, who shuns multilateralism, has promised massive tariff increases on Chinese goods and other imports as part of his America First agenda.

The conservative Republican Project 2025 agenda, from which Mr. Trump has distanced himself, calls for US withdrawal from the IMF and World Bank to pursue only bilateral development and financial aid in line with US interests.

Mr. Trump has publicly taken aim at the United Nations and the World Health Organization and the New York Times reported last week that his transition team was preparing executive orders to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. He has not specifically targeted the IMF or World Bank thus far.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of UAE green energy group Masdar, said the United States remained a key market, despite changes in political leadership, and the company would continue expanding its footprint there.

“A lot of red states in the US… deploy a lot of renewables. They are very supportive of energy, so we don’t really see any impact, honestly,” he said, referring to Republican-controlled states. — Reuters