Millions in World Bank climate aid to vulnerable nations missing, claims Oxfam

A new report by Oxfam has found that around $41 billion of climate aid pledged by the World Bank to 12 countries between 2018 and 2021 has not been disbursed.

The report found that the World Bank had only disbursed $9.7 billion of the $41 billion pledged, leaving a significant shortfall in funding for climate adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries.

Oxfam's climate policy lead Nafkote Dabi said the findings were "deeply concerning" and warned that they could undermine developing countries' efforts to respond to the climate crisis.

"This money is essential for helping vulnerable countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, droughts, and extreme weather events," Dabi said in a statement.

"The World Bank must urgently address this issue and ensure that all of the climate aid it has promised is disbursed as soon as possible."

The report found that the World Bank's climate aid was often slow to be disbursed, with some countries waiting years for funding to arrive. Oxfam said this was due to a number of factors, including complex bureaucratic procedures and a lack of coordination between the World Bank and recipient countries.

The report called on the World Bank to streamline its procedures and make it easier for developing countries to access climate aid. It also called on the World Bank to increase its transparency and provide more information on how its climate aid is being used.

The World Bank said it was committed to providing climate aid to developing countries and that it was working to improve its disbursement processes.

"We are working to make our processes more efficient and to ensure that our climate aid is disbursed as quickly as possible," a World Bank spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said that the World Bank had already made changes to its processes, such as reducing the number of steps required for countries to access funding.

"We will continue to work to improve our processes and to ensure that we are doing everything we can to help developing countries respond to the climate crisis," the spokesperson said.