The World Bank has removed its target of directing 45 percent of its financing towards climate-related projects, a policy shift that has triggered concern among development experts over the future of climate adaptation financing for Africa, where rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, floods and infrastructure vulnerabilities continue to threaten economic growth and livelihoods.
The decision follows the expiry of the World Bank’s five-year Climate Change Action Plan, which concluded on Tuesday after exceeding its original objective. During the 2024 financial year, the institution allocated approximately 48 percent of its lending equivalent to US$51 billion, to projects delivering climate-related benefits, surpassing the 45 percent benchmark established under the strategy. According to the World Bank, more than one-third of that financing was directed towards African countries.
Rather than renewing the numerical target, the World Bank has opted to retain its broader climate framework without a fixed end date, signalling a strategic shift away from measuring success primarily through spending allocations. The move comes after pressure from the United States, the institution’s largest shareholder, despite calls from several European governments and developing countries to preserve the financing target.
In an internal communication to staff, World Bank President Ajay Banga said the institution’s climate engagement would remain closely aligned with the priorities of borrowing countries. He stated that the Bank’s climate work “is and will remain firmly client-driven,” supporting countries in pursuing their own development and climate objectives.
The policy adjustment was further explained during the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, where World Bank Managing Director Paschal Donohoe said the institution would increasingly assess climate initiatives based on measurable development outcomes rather than expenditure targets.
According to Donohoe, the extension of the Bank’s climate framework reflects a transition towards monitoring the effectiveness of investments instead of focusing solely on the proportion of funding allocated to climate programmes. He argued that measuring tangible results would provide a more meaningful assessment of development impact than tracking financial commitments alone.
The change nevertheless raises important questions for African economies, where climate finance has become increasingly central to national development planning, infrastructure resilience and long-term fiscal sustainability.
Across the continent, governments are simultaneously confronting rising public debt burdens and growing climate adaptation costs. Many African countries remain among the world’s lowest historical contributors to greenhouse gas emissions while experiencing some of the most severe climate impacts, including prolonged droughts across the Horn of Africa, increasingly destructive floods in West and Southern Africa, and declining agricultural productivity linked to changing rainfall patterns.
Development finance institutions, including the World Bank, have therefore become major sources of concessional capital supporting adaptation programmes that often struggle to attract sufficient private investment because of long implementation periods and uncertain financial returns.
According to the World Bank, recent climate-related investments have supported electricity expansion, sustainable transport systems and water infrastructure across countries including Madagascar, Tanzania and Niger. Such investments are increasingly viewed as critical economic infrastructure rather than solely environmental programmes because they enhance productivity, reduce disaster-related losses and strengthen long-term investment attractiveness.
Analysts note that climate-resilient infrastructure is becoming a prerequisite for economic competitiveness as investors place greater emphasis on environmental risk, supply chain resilience and sustainable growth prospects. Failure to invest adequately in adaptation could expose African economies to higher fiscal costs arising from disaster recovery, reduced agricultural output, disrupted transport networks and declining investor confidence.
Civil society organisations have expressed concern that removing a quantitative climate financing benchmark could weaken accountability over future lending priorities.
Selma Huart, advocacy officer at international development organisation Oxfam, warned that abandoning the target could increase the likelihood of financing projects that contribute to environmental degradation while reducing resources available for vulnerable communities facing climate risks.
According to Huart, Africa remains among the regions most exposed to climate change despite contributing minimally to global emissions, making continued support for adaptation an essential component of equitable international development finance.
The World Bank has maintained that climate considerations are now embedded across its broader operational model rather than treated as a standalone programme. This suggests climate-related investments will continue, although without a publicly stated financing threshold against which annual performance can be measured.
For African policymakers, the shift underscores a broader challenge confronting international climate finance. As global development institutions increasingly prioritise outcomes over expenditure targets, governments may need to strengthen domestic climate planning frameworks, improve project preparation capacity and demonstrate measurable development benefits to secure future financing.
The evolution of the World Bank’s climate strategy also reflects changing dynamics within multilateral development finance, where pressure is growing to balance climate action with debt sustainability, poverty reduction and broader economic development objectives.
For Africa, where climate resilience increasingly underpins food security, energy systems, infrastructure planning and economic stability, the scale and predictability of international climate finance will remain a defining factor in determining how successfully countries navigate the transition towards sustainable and inclusive growth.
