Loyal readers have been aware for some time of the growing pressure on David Malpass, the Donald Trump-appointed head of the World Bank, over his perceived lack of interest in scaling up climate finance. Now that Malpass has decided to quit a year early, Joe Biden has an opportunity to install a successor who can make more aggressive use of the bank’s balance sheet to galvanise green investments in developing nations. Barring a serious upset, Biden will exercise his nation’s de facto (and controversial) prerogative, as the bank’s largest shareholder, to appoint a US citizen as its leader. Read More...

Loyal readers have been aware for some time of the growing pressure on David Malpass, the Donald Trump-appointed head of the World Bank, over his perceived lack of interest in scaling up climate finance. Now that Malpass has decided to quit a year early, Joe Biden has an opportunity to install a successor who can make more aggressive use of the bank’s balance sheet to galvanise green investments in developing nations. Barring a serious upset, Biden will exercise his nation’s de facto (and controversial) prerogative, as the bank’s largest shareholder, to appoint a US citizen as its leader.