U.S. Treasury Pushes World Bank to Back Fossil Fuels Amid Climate Concerns

Treasury Secretary Bessent questions climate science and urges World Bank to drop emissions targets, worrying advocates as key climate plan expires.

Apr. 19, 2026 at 2:05pm

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A photorealistic painting of an old, rusted oil pump standing alone in an empty urban setting, with warm sunlight casting long shadows across the scene, conveying a sense of political and economic uncertainty.As the U.S. presses the World Bank to prioritize fossil fuels, the future of climate financing for vulnerable nations hangs in the balance.Washington Today

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has rattled climate advocates by publicly questioning the scientific consensus on global warming and pressing the World Bank to drop its climate financing targets. With the World Bank's main Climate Change Action Plan set to expire in June, the U.S. is using its influence as a major shareholder to reshape the Bank's lending priorities away from climate mitigation and adaptation projects, a move that could lock vulnerable nations into higher-emissions infrastructure.

Why it matters

The World Bank's climate financing targets have steered billions of dollars towards climate projects in the developing world. If the U.S. succeeds in weakening or removing these targets, it could significantly slow access to climate adaptation and mitigation funding for low-income countries just as they face escalating energy costs and adaptation challenges.

The details

At recent IMF-World Bank meetings, Bessent publicly questioned the scientific consensus on climate change, telling a panel that 'we are going through cycles' and that it is 'very difficult to deconstruct the reasons around why anything changes.' The Treasury Department has also urged the World Bank to drop its 45% climate co-benefits financing target and instead 'finance all affordable and reliable sources of energy, including gas, oil and coal.' Climate advocates argue this push to prioritize fossil fuels comes at a particularly reckless time amid an ongoing global energy crisis.

  • The World Bank's current Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) is set to expire on June 30, 2026.
  • The decision on any changes to the CCAP and the World Bank's climate co-benefits targets will be made by Bank management and shareholders in the coming weeks.

The players

Scott Bessent

The U.S. Treasury Secretary who has publicly questioned climate science and is pressing the World Bank to drop its climate financing targets.

World Bank

The multilateral development bank that currently has climate financing targets through its Climate Change Action Plan, which is set to expire in June 2026.

Mohamed Adow

The director of Power Shift Africa, a climate advocacy group, who criticized the U.S. push to sideline climate change discussions at the World Bank meetings.

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What they’re saying

“It is beyond absurd that, in the middle of an escalating oil crisis, a World Bank meeting could sideline talk of climate change.”

— Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift Africa

“It is very difficult to deconstruct the reasons around why anything changes.”

— Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary

What’s next

The World Bank and its shareholders will make a decision on the future of the Climate Change Action Plan and the Bank's climate co-benefits targets in the coming weeks.

The takeaway

The U.S. Treasury's push to prioritize fossil fuels over climate action at the World Bank could have far-reaching consequences, potentially locking vulnerable nations into higher-emissions infrastructure and slowing access to critical climate adaptation and mitigation funding.