White House slams World Bank head for climate change denial
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David Malpass, a former Republican, raised questions about his climate change denials and then clarified his stance after.
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David Malpass, the president of the World Bank.
The White House expressed sharp disapproval Friday of David Malpass, head of the World Bank, who is facing charges of climate change denial for deflecting questions regarding man's role in greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to global warming.
Malpass, responding to suggestions that he would quit, made clear that he would not quit amid the uproar and went on to clarify his standing regarding the issue in the past days. He further asserted that none of the member states in the bank demanded he resigns, thus he won't be resigning.
"Look, it's clear that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are adding to, are causing climate change," he told Politico.
Read more: "Irreversible damages" caused by US' emissions of greenhouse gases
"The task for us, for the world, is to pull together the projects and the funding that actually has an impact," he said.
Malpass was a former Republican, leading the World Bank since 2019 during Trump's term, noting that the former US President doesn't believe in climate change.
Environmentalists and climate activists have called in the past for Malpass to be removed for his 'inadequate' approach to climate change. The calls to step down grew more aggressive after appearing at a conference held by the New York Times.
When asked about whether he believed man-made emissions were increasing the planet's temperatures, Malpass responded: "I'm not a scientist."
"We condemn the words of the president," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a White House briefing in response to the incident. "We expect the World Bank to be a global leader."
In a CNN interview on Thursday, Malpass remarked that the emissions were "coming from manmade sources, including fossil fuels, methane, agricultural uses, and industrial uses."
"I'm not a denier," he said, saying his message was confused and he was "not always good at conveying" what he means.
Jean-Pierre noted that "The US believes the World Bank must be a full partner in delivering on the aggressive climate agenda, poverty reduction and sustainability development. Again, Treasury will hold Malpass accountable to this position and support the many staff working to fight climate change."
In early July, the US supreme court ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
In August, US President Joe Biden signed a $430 billion bill - the Inflation Reduction Act - that is the largest climate package in US history, which stipulates cutting domestic greenhouse gas emissions, lowering prescription drug prices and high inflation, which the Federal Reserve said will become rooted in the US economy.
Read next: WH: Climate change could cost US $2 trillion a year
