The following statement was made by World Bank managing director Juan José Daboub as a response to inquiries by the FT about his role in the editing of documents relating to the Bank’s climate change policy.

Access to energy is one of the most pressing needs for most developing countries.

One of the Bank’s priorities in Global Public Goods is Clean Energy. The Bank is committed to help countries find the best solutions for their needs in access to clean energy; as such, the Bank strongly supports the clean energy and climate change agendas.

In addition, I personally believe that climate change is a serious issue and I am pleased that the Bank is playing an active role in addressing it. I strongly believe that expanding access to clean energy and transitioning to a low carbon economy are important development issues and also issues where the Bank can play a leadership role.

The September 2006 paper was prepared at the request of the Bank’s Development Committee, which in April 2006 asked the Bank “to review ... existing financial instruments ... and explore the potential value of new financial instruments to accelerate investment in clean, sustainable, cost effective and efficient energy”.

I feel that the paper fully responds to the Development Committee’s request. Our staff worked and continues to work diligently on this matter and deserve recognition for their work, which includes trying to meet the concerns of a diverse range of stakeholders. In addition, our Chief Scientist is happy with this document.

The paper was also discussed by both the Board and the Development Committee, and both the Board and the Development Committee supported it. In all papers that go to the Board, staff and management aim to address the issues under discussion in a manner that will achieve a consensus, and it was achieved in this case. If you have the document, you will also see that it contains many references to climate change, as well as climate risk and climate variability.