World Bank (WB) President David Malpass has been under fire since the beginning of the week, accused of being “climatosceptic”, a reproach to which he tried to respond on Friday September 23, without however calming the calls for his departure.
It all started when former US Vice President Al Gore said on Monday that David Malpass was “climatosceptic” and had failed to improve the financing of climate projects in developing countries. Invited the next day to speak on these accusations during a round table organized by the New York Timesthe president of the WB refused on three occasions to say whether he recognized the role of fossil fuels in global warming.
“I am not a scientist”, had he ended up declaring, pushed by the public, preferring to put forward “huge effort” produced by the WB to help finance against global warming. His response outraged the specialized NGOs, who therefore called for his departure.
“I will not quit”
“We condemn the remarks made by the president” of the BM, asserted Friday the spokeswoman for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, who recalls however that “replacing it requires the agreement of a majority of shareholders, you have to keep that in mind”.
“I will not resign, and I have not considered it”however, replied David Malpass on Friday, questioned by the media Politico (article in English). According to him, “none” member states of the international financial institution has asked for his resignation.
He ensured that he was not a climate skeptic, stressing that the “Human-made greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming”. “And our mission is to set up projects and financing that have an impact” to reduce emissions, he added.
Appointed by Donald Trump in 2019
But his justifications did not calm the critics: in turn, a group of scientists specializing in climate issues called on Friday for the departure of David Malpass. Especially since if the president of the WB defends the record of his institution in terms of the fight against global warming, some criticize him for not doing enough.
His Malpass political profile is no stranger to the attention he receives on climate issues. Republican and Under-Secretary of the Treasury, in charge of international economic relations, of former US President Donald Trump, he was appointed by the latter in 2019 to head the WB to take over from his compatriot, Jim Yong Kim. , resigned.
According to a pre-established mode of appointment, the United States indeed chooses the president of the WB, while Europe takes the decision concerning the management of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
