IMF and World Bank leaders promise to work with Trump at UN climate summit

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund chiefs said on Tuesday that they would continue to work with Donald Trump's incoming administration in the United States to provide funding to countries affected by climate change.

Kristalina Georgeieva, IMF's chief, told a panel at the U.N. COP29 Climate Summit in Azerbaijan the global lender worked with Trump under his previous administration and was looking forward to working with him again. She said, "They have a mandat from the American people."

Georgieva expressed her confidence that the U.S. Private sector will continue to invest green technologies. She said, "It's the business proposition to be ahead of the curve and I have no question that this will continue."

The United States is the largest shareholder in the IMF and World Bank, where Trump's election is expected to cause the United States to withdraw from global efforts against climate change. This has raised concerns about the IMF's ability to increase funding to countries with climate-related problems.

The focus of this year's summit will be to raise hundreds of billions to fund the global transition to cleaner sources of energy and to limit the damage to the climate caused by carbon emission by the largest countries in the world, including the U.S.

Ajay Banaga, the president of the World Bank said that Trump's victory was historic and demanded respect. He also highlighted the efforts made by the bank to improve efficiency and effectiveness, as well as encouraging private investment for climate finance.

"We are going to speak to him." "That's our responsibility," he said. He noted that in his 17-month tenure as the head of the bank there were also changes in government at four of the bank's biggest donors, Germany, France and Japan.

Trump, who rejects multilateralism and has promised massive tariff hikes on Chinese goods as part of his 'America First' agenda, has pledged massive tariff increases against Chinese imports.

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

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said that the United States was still a major market, even though the political landscape has changed. The company will continue to expand its presence in the United States.

"A number of red states within the United States... use a great deal of renewables." They are very supportive of energy, so we don't really see any impact, honestly," he said, referring to Republican-controlled states. (Reporting and Editing by Marguerita Choy)

(source: Reuters)