President of the World Bank David Malpass has come under fire after he refused to share his beliefs about “man-made climate change and scientific consensus” on global warming at an event hosted by the New York Times on Tuesday.
As cited by Deutsche Welle, a journalist David Gelles approached David to know his response about ex-vice president Al Gore’s accusations that Malpass was a climate skeptic.
Gelles asked, “Let me just be as clear as I can: Do you accept the scientific consensus that the man-made burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet?”
Malpass did not respond, but after the public pressurized him to answer the question, he said, “I don’t even know. I’m not a scientist.”
His response to the question welcomed a lot of criticism. Former climate diplomats and civil groups are urging US president Joe Biden (as the US is the largest shareholder of the World Bank appoints its head) to remove him from the presidency of the multilateral development bank, according to a Reuters report.
As cited by the report, the World Bank and White House declined to comment.
“We expect the World Bank Group to be a global leader of climate ambition and the mobilization of significantly more climate finance for developing countries,” a spokesperson said.
He further said that the world will always have that expectation from World Bank leadership. To accomplish this global goal, the World Bank must fully cooperate, he added.
Laurence Tubiana, a former French climate envoy criticizing World Bank wrote on Twitter, “How is this possible in 2022? This apathy produces weak climate action when countries so badly need World Bank aid & finance. This is not the global leadership we need.”
She further wrote, “From water stress in his native Michigan to flood-ravaged Pakistan, Malpass cannot deny the reality of climate change. People & governments now need a WB leader who listens to science.”
