In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, World Bank President David Malpass has been a surprisingly outspoken advocate of policies to reduce global warming, curb economic inequality and use multilateral institutions to combat the worst of the impacts of the pandemic.
Why it’s important: As a candidate for former President Donald Trump and a skeptic of multilateral institutions, many feared that Malpass would weaken the World Bank’s work on climate change or make it “America First” in its orientation. But it hasn’t been like that, as he explained to “Axios on HBO.”
The big picture: Malpass leads one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions, whose mission is to reduce global poverty and is often the last resort for countries struggling to stay afloat.
- “We’ve seen this growing inequality … it seems like the system we have right now isn’t working.”
- “There is less and less capital available for small businesses. And there has been a centralization of wealth in different economies.”
Where is it: In December, the World Bank raised the target and now expects 35% of its funding to have “climate benefits, on average, over the next five years.” That exceeds 28% in 2019 and a target of 18% over Malpass’s predecessor, Jim Yong Kim.
- The Bank has also been a strong supporter of the implementation and support of the Paris Climate Agreement, with Malpass on “Axios on HBO” that the Bank has been “very involved in this effort”.
On inequality, Malpass has been one of the most outspoken critics of the current situation and the way central banks have approached the issue.
- “Inequality is a big challenge for political systems and also for people’s health, for their livelihoods,” Malpass said.
- “There is not much for people at the end of the scale. The most important thing that helps them is education and jobs. And both have been harmed during the COVID crisis.”
Flashback: When Malpass was appointed in 2019, Stewart Patrick, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Council, wrote that Malpass had “antithetical views on the Bank’s mission.”
- Patrick also said Malpass shared “Trump’s misconception that multilateral institutions are intrinsically contrary to U.S. sovereignty and national interests, and can be relied upon to undermine the Bank’s invaluable work around the world. “.
- “He is precisely the wrong person at the wrong time to run the bank,” Patrick concluded.
Kim reportedly left office three years earlier due to disagreements over the Trump administration’s stance on climate change, including Trump’s claims that climate change was a “deception” and his plans to withdraw. of the Paris agreement.
The last word: “Climate change, poverty and inequality are definite issues of our time,” Malpass said in a recent speech.