Erasing Climate Change at the World Bank

The scandal at the World Bank is quickly spreading to Paul Wolfowitz’s handpicked deputy, Juan Jose Daboub. First he is accused of trying to remove references to “family planning” from World Bank documents, now the Bank’s Chief Scientist, Robert Watson, is accusing him of trying to erase references to climate change from the Bank’s Clean Energy and Investment Framework.

The World Bank’s private sector lending arm increased its support to oil companies by more than 75 percent last year, so it is no surprise that the Bank doesn’t want to face up to the problem of climate change. But are these really the people that you want in charge of designing a Clean Energy Investment Framework for the developing world?