A new report titled ‘Managing Climate Risk-Integrating Adaptation into World Bank Group Operations’,  was launched on the occasion of the Third Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly, held in Cape Town. The report states that “the impacts on investments, through increased costs or significant redirection, are estimated at 1 to 2 percent of the investment portfolio, or about $200m to $400m per year within the World Bank Group, and at least $1bn for all official development assistance and concessional lending.”

Climate change is intrinsically linked to the eradication of poverty—
the mission of the World Bank Group. Infrastructure, agriculture,
human health, water resources, and environment projects
are exposed to the risks of physical threats to the investments,
potential underperformance, and the possibility that projects will
indirectly contribute to rising vulnerability by triggering investment
and settlement in high-risk areas. It is, therefore, important to
integrate comprehensive climate risk management into development
planning, programs, and projects.
The analytical work, projects, and programs provide invaluable
experiences on climate risk management but the awareness of climate
risk in the World Bank’s work could be further strengthened.
I see several ways in which the World Bank Group with GEF support
can help its clients better manage climate risks:
• Integrating climate risk management into the project cycle,
by adopting early risk identifi cation (for instance, by applying
a quick and simple risk-screening tool) and following up
throughout the design process, if necessary
• Integrating climate risk management into country and sector
dialogues,
• Enhancing internal support for and coordination of climate
risk management by expanding analytical work and capacity
for cross-support by the Global Climate Change Team and the
Hazard Management Unit of the World Bank and by actively
developing climate risk management activities within regional
departments
• Supporting proper fi nancing mechanisms for adaptation,
using the Investment Framework for Clean Energy and
Development and using new funding mechanisms created
under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and the Kyoto Protocol to leverage maximum adaptation
results within the World Bank’s development activities and
investments
By enhancing climate risk management, the World Bank Group
and its GEF partners will be able to better address the growing
risks from climate change and, at the same time, make current
development investments more resilient to climate variability and
extreme weather events.