‘Exemplary leader’ or ‘not the guy’?

Dear friend,

Remember the furore surrounding David Malpass back in September?

After months of pressure on the World Bank to do a better job on climate, Malpass recently announced he will step down early. His successor, Ajay Banga was subsequently nominated by President Biden, and in its signature style the climate community has responded with a smorgasbord of praise and criticism.

Al Gore, whose consistently furious outbursts about Malpass shaped much of the ‘climate denier’ coverage from last year, said:

“Those who have worked with Ajay Banga know that he is an exemplary leader and I am extremely optimistic that he will bring renewed leadership on the climate crisis to the World Bank”

Professor Lord Nick Stern said Banga is? ‘deeply committed’ and a ‘pioneer in financial inclusion.’

Others in the community have been far less supportive. Comments have included reference to Ajay as a ‘dangerous Wall Street executive’, a ‘planet-wrecking CEO’ and ‘not the guy that President Biden should be nominating when a livable planet is teetering at the brink of collapse.’

This disconnect among the community - where we agree pretty much whole-heartedly on the desired outcome (i.e. a stable climate in which the diverse web of life on Earth can thrive), but disagree, often fundamentally, on the approach to getting there -? is something Tom Rivett-Carnac will explore in depth in our upcoming mini-series, starting next week.

No matter what different folk think about the incoming President of the World Bank, what we can almost all certainly agree on is that it’s a difficult road ahead and he will need all the support he can get. Banga is taking on responsibility for what the Financial Times described as the ‘gargantuan task of revamping the bank’s mission against a backdrop of divided countries and clunky, uncooperative bureaucracy.’? What Banga is able to achieve during his tenure will have a significant influence on the outcome of this decisive decade: as Christiana has frequently said:

“where the money goes today, so go the emissions tomorrow”.?

Join Christiana Figueres Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson tomorrow, Thursday March 2nd for more of the usual sharp insights, joyful curiosity and outrage and optimism on all things climate. In this week’s episode we’ll be celebrating you, our wonderful listeners by sharing some of the valuable insights you so generously contributed in last December’s listener survey.

We’re also hoping to make a decision this week on whether we should invite the CEO of BP back onto the podcast based on listener feedback. Did you cast your vote??

If you like this ‘dose of Outrage + Optimism’, there's more where this came from! If you haven’t already, do sign up to our full bi-weekly newsletter to make sure you’re not just informed about the climate crisis, but also inspired to be part of the changes we all need to make.?

In it you'll find more on our direction of travel, the science news you need to know and the O+O team's top recommendations for reading/watching/listening.

With stubborn optimism,

The O+O Team

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