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Since assuming the role of President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga has visited all regions where the World Bank operates.
The final phase of this process involves a tour of Pacific Island nations experiencing the worst impacts of climate change.
In Tuvalu his visit was welcomed and it is the first time that a World Bank president has made the trip.
Most of the country’s 11,000 residents live on atoll islands that sit less than two meters above sea level.
On the ground, Banga says the threat posed by climate change is clear.
“It’s so obvious here that they have no problem creating the kind of high-emissions growth that they’re basically suffering from the impact of climate change and what it’s doing to them.”
He says that, under his leadership, he wants financial assistance for climate change to play a much larger role in the work the World Bank is doing to reduce poverty in poorer nations.
“Also, for me adaptation and resilience are not just about infrastructure, as in the physical case. It’s also about human infrastructure and helping them have the quality of life they deserve and need.”
In the 80 years since its creation after World War II, the multilateral lender has made billions of dollars in loans to the world’s 75 poorest countries.
Grants are also provided through the World Bank’s International Development Association, or IDA.
Banga says he will urge rich nations to replenish funding to the IDA at this month’s UN General Assembly.
Climate change activists say it is important that financial aid is provided to reduce the debt burden on poor Pacific Island nations.
Grace Malie was one of the young people who spoke to Mr Banga during his visit.
Now 25, he says he remembers first learning about climate change when he was 8, through conversations with his parents about why playground space was shrinking.
“It is an emotional situation and it is not fair of us that we are facing the brutal impacts of this crisis to which we contribute very little and what is at stake is our identity in our land, our identity as Tuvaluans and the future of our children. and our descendants and this is very worrying.”
She views the climate migration agreement signed between Tuvalu and Australia last year with mixed feelings.
Under the treaty, starting next year, Australia will issue 280 visas a year to Tuvaluans facing dangers posed by climate change.
“I love my country. I love my home and I love doing what I do every day in Tuvalu and I want to stay. I want to stay here on the island. I want my children to have the same experience that I have excluding the, you know, living the impacts of climate change.”
The vice-president of the National Youth Council of Tuvalu, Talua Nivaga, sees the possibility of moving to Australia as an absolute measure of last resort.
“I have been an advocate and a youth advocate for climate mobility, but that doesn’t mean that right now we are calling for the movement of people at this stage. What we are advocating for is the clear path for people to move when it comes to the scenarios worse and the Falepili Treaty has shown a clear path, but it should be a plan B and not a plan A.”
He says he discussed with Banga the importance of creating jobs and skills training for young people on the island, including skills a climate migrant might need.
During Pacific Islands Forum talks in Tonga, Tuvalu’s climate change minister Maina Talia urged Australia to set an urgent deadline to end fossil fuels.
This would include a ban on the export of fossil fuels.
The World Bank said in December that it would dedicate 45% of its annual financing to climate change adaptation and mitigation by 2025.
Tuvalu’s deputy prime minister, Panapasi Nelesoni, says it is important that funding reaches the Pacific Island nations that need it most.
According to him, rising sea levels are making it more difficult to grow vegetables, which adds to health problems.
“IDA (International Development Association) funding is very important because it is given to us as grants. So right now it is difficult for us to borrow money and we like to see a continuation of that assistance from rich countries , given the problem we are facing with climate change and sea level rise.”