IMF, World Bank leaders pledge to work with Trump, support developing nations on climate change

The heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that they would collaborate with the incoming US administration under Republican Donald Trump to continue providing financial support to developing countries affected by climate change.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, speaking at a panel during the U.N. COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, said that the global lender had worked with Trump during his previous term and looked forward to continued cooperation. “They have a mandate from the American people,” she added.

Georgieva said she was confident that the U.S. private sector would continue to invest in green technologies. ”It is the business proposition to stay ahead of the curve, and I have no doubt that this will continue,” she said.

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The election of Donald Trump, who is expected to retreat from global efforts to combat climate change, has raised concerns about the capacity of the IMF and World Bank – where the U.S. is the largest shareholder – to increase funding for countries facing climate-related challenges. The potential shift in U.S. policy could impact the scale of financial support these institutions provide to developing nations grappling with the effects of climate change.

This year’s summit is meant to focus on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources and limit the climate damage caused by carbon emissions by the world’s largest countries, including the U.S.

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Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, said Trump won by a historic margin, which demanded respect, and highlighted the bank’s work to become more efficient and effective, while encouraging increasing private investment in climate finance.”We’re going to talk to him. That’s our job,” he said, noting that during his 17 months at the helm of the bank, there had also been changes in government in the bank’s four other biggest donors – Germany, France, Japan and Britain.

Trump, who shuns multilateralism, has promised massive tariff increases on Chinese goods and other imports as part of his ”America First” agenda.

The conservative Republican ”Project 2025” agenda, from which Trump has distanced himself, calls for U.S. withdrawal from the IMF and World Bank to pursue only bilateral development and financial aid in line with U.S. interests.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of UAE green energy group Masdar, said the United States remained a key market, despite changes in political leadership, and the company would continue expanding its footprint there.

”A lot of red states in the U.S. … deploy a lot of renewables. They are very supportive of energy, so we don’t really see any impact, honestly,” he said, referring to Republican-controlled states.

With inputs from agencies.