Development orgs should focus on poverty, not trendy causes

More than 10,000 delegates, finance ministers, and central bankers have gathered in Washington this week for the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings. Their stated goal is to accelerate global development, drive economic growth, and lift billions out of poverty. That mission remains vital. But too many development institutions have lost sight of what the world’s poorest people actually need. Flush with funding from taxpayers in wealthy nations, they increasingly prioritize elite Western concerns — gender, social issues, and climate change — over the basics that matter most: better education, health care, and reliable energy. Nowhere is this disconnect clearer than in their growing climate fixation. The World Bank proudly reports that in its latest fiscal year, 48 percent of its funding went to so-called “climate finance,” up from 44 percent the year before, and exceeding its own 45 percent target. To its credit, it emphasizes that these projects can often do more than just deliver climate benefits. But that still means more than $39 billion redirected toward climate-themed projects. Across all multilateral development banks, spending on climate initiatives for low- and middle-income countries topped $85 billion in 2024. The African Development Bank has gone further than most: Climate finance now accounts for 49 percent of its portfolio, and for 2025 it announced it will aim for 100 percent of projects to incorporate climate considerations. This is a profound misallocation. When…