The World Bank’s president Jim Yong Kim has said the lender will stop financing oil and gas projects in two years.
Speaking at the climate summit outside Paris, Jim Yong Kim said on Tuesday the World Bank will cease financing exploration and extraction projects after 2019, except "in exceptional circumstances".
#BreakingNews: @WorldBank will no longer finance upstream #oil and #gas after 2019 → https://t.co/jgbOEBBJse #OnePlanet pic.twitter.com/BYaYLgV4sD
— World Bank (@WorldBank) December 12, 2017
That would be for the poorest countries where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access and the project fits within the countries’ Paris Agreement commitments.
Mr Kim also mentioned initiatives in different parts of the world aimed at helping countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Those include a multi-million-dollar deal to deploy millions of LED bulbs and tube lights, thousands of electric cars and charging stations and millions of smart meters throughout India.