Climate change is a threat to global development and to the core mission of the World Bank Group. With the recognition that human activity drives global warming, the World Bank Group has pursued a long-term commitment to curb global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for more than 20 years.
Carbon finance (CF) is a generic term used for the revenue streams that can be generated by low-carbon projects and activities from sale of their GHG emission reductions by sources, or GHG emission removals by sinks, or from trading in carbon credits. It has been one of the World Bank Group’s first and longest engagements for mitigating climate change. The World Bank Group’s engagement in CF started in the late 1990s immediately after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol.
Through its many initiatives, the Bank Group has played multiple roles and functions in CF; these included catalyzing and developing carbon markets; innovating and developing new tools and methodologies; building capacity; and exercising thought leadership and convening global and national partnerships for carbon markets and carbon pricing.
The purposes of this evaluation are to assess the role and contributions of the Bank Group in CF in relation to the needs and priorities of its client countries and its potential comparative advantages, and to draw lessons to inform the World Bank Group’s future strategic direction in CF. This report, Carbon Markets for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction in a Warming World: An evaluation of the World Bank group’s support to carbon finance, is a comprehensive review of the Bank Group's findings.