IMF, World Bank leaders pledge at UN climate summit to work with Trump

IMF and World Bank leaders at COP29 pledged to work with U.S. President-elect Trump, emphasizing private sector investment in green technology. While concerns remain over Trump's climate stance, IMF chief Georgieva expressed confidence in ongoing U.S. investment in renewables.

The heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said they would work with the incoming U.S. president, Republican Donald Trump, underscoring the importance of private sector funding for developing countries hit by climate change.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva told a panel during the U.N. COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan that the global lender had worked with Trump during his previous term and looked forward to doing so again. "They have a mandate from the American people," she said.

Asked about the impact of Trump's election on the IMF's climate work, Georgieva said she was confident that the U.S. private sector would continue to invest in green technologies. "It is the business proposition to stay ahead of the curve, and I have no doubt that this will continue," she said.

The election of Trump, who is expected to pull the United States back from global efforts to fight climate change, has raised questions about the ability of the IMF and the World Bank - the U.S. is the largest shareholder in both - to ramp up funding for countries around climate-related issues.

This year's COP29 summit is focused on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit the climate damage caused by carbon emissions by the world's largest countries, including the U.S.

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, said Trump's historical win, which demanded respect, highlighted the bank's work to become more efficient and effective, while encouraging increasing private investment in climate finance. "He's going to have opinions. We're going to talk to him.

That's our job," he said, noting that during his 17 months at the bank, political leadership had also changed in the bank's four other biggest donors - Germany, France, Japan and Britain.

Trump, who shuns multilateralism, has promised massive tariff increases on Chinese goods and other imports as part of his "America First" agenda.

The conservative Republican "Project 2025" agenda, from which Trump has distanced himself, calls for U.S. withdrawal from the IMF and World Bank to pursue only bilateral development and financial aid in line with U.S. interests.

Trump has publicly taken aim at the United Nations and the World Health Organization and the New York Times reported last week that his transition team was preparing executive orders to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. He has not specifically targeted the IMF or World Bank thus far.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of UAE green energy group Masdar, said the United States remained a key market, despite changes in political leadership, and the company would continue expanding its footprint there.

"A lot of red states in the U.S. ... deploy a lot of renewables. They are very supportive of energy, so we don't really see any impact, honestly," he said, referring to Republican-controlled states.
 

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