World Bank President To Step Down Early — Leaving Biden To Name Replacement

Topline

World Bank President David Malpass announced Wednesday his plan to step down in June, nearly a year before the end of his five-year term, following a recent controversy over climate change comments, and setting up President Biden to name a replacement.

Key Facts

Key Background

Malpass made headlines last year after a New York Times interview in which he declined to acknowledge that burning fossil fuels is warming the planet, saying in part, “I’m not a scientist.” In the days after the interview, Malpass walked back those comments. During a CNN interview he said he was not a climate denier. “It’s clear that greenhouse gas emissions are coming from man-made sources, including fossil fuels,” he said. The New York Times also reported Malpass sent an internal memo to World Bank employees days after the interview, reiterating the connection and adding that the use of fossil fuels in both advanced and developing countries is “creating another wave of the climate crisis.”

This is a developing story and Forbes will continue to update it.

Further Reading

Al Gore Calls The World Bank Chief A ‘Climate Denier.’ (New York Times)

World Bank Leader, Accused of Climate Denial, Offers a New Response (New York Times)

World Bank Head Says He’s Not A Climate Denier, Won’t Quit (Associated Press)