The World Bank
The World Bank was set up in 1944 to govern the post-war international monetary order. It has since become a powerful institution in setting the official international development agenda. It provides billions of dollars annually to shaping policy and providing loan and grant finance to countries and to the private sector.
The World Bank itself comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) which provides loans to middle-income countries, and the International Development Association (IDA) which provides grants and concessional finance to low-income countries.
The World Bank Group
The World Bank is part of a wider World Bank Group (WBG), comprising also the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The World Bank Group’s vision, updated in 2023 under newly elected President Ajay Banga, is “to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet”.
The Bank is governed by a Board of Directors made up of the Bank’s President and 25 Executive Directors (EDs), representing 189 member countries. Only the six largest shareholders (US, Japan, Germany, France, UK and China) have their own ED, the rest are organised in constituencies. Since the beginning, the US is the only country to have a de facto right of veto at the Bank, affording the country a strong influence and power over any major decisions.
Recourse’s work towards the World Bank Group
Recourse plays a crucial role in holding the WBG accountable to its mission as a publicly-funded bank.
- We monitor specific investments and track the social and environmental effects of WBG projects, programmes and policies on local communities and on the planet. Where harm occurs, we support civil society to use tools like the Bank’s accountability watchdog, the Inspection Panel, to seek redress and systemic change. We do this through partnering with organisations in communities impacted by World Bank finance.
- We influence the WBG’s management, Board and shareholders, and challenge investments before they happen, to ensure that the Bank’s priorities align with those of civil society, such as protecting the environment and addressing the needs of the most marginalised groups.
- We push the WBG to have stronger policies on climate, energy, the environment and human rights. This means calling for the WBG to commit to ending funding for all fossil fuels, including gas, and redirecting financing to sustainable, renewable energy projects which benefit all. We call out false energy solutions that prolong fossil fuel infrastructure and extractivist approaches that put private profit over people and planet.
- Recourse and partners in The Big Shift Global coalition played an important role in pushing the WBG and other Multilateral Development Banks to align their operations with global efforts to address climate change. In June 2023, the Bank committed to align all new operations with the Paris Agreement, and we continue to monitor their progress on Paris alignment.
- We also build awareness and capacity among civil society actors in Africa, to strengthen their ability to influence the country strategies of the WBG within their respective nations. For example, in Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Browse below for examples of Recourse’s work on the World Bank Group.
