David Malpass announced his departure as president of the World Bank last week. From navigating the fallout of COVID-19 to the invasion of Ukraine, this marks the end of an eventful four-year run.

The World Bank, despite serious failings, embodies a commendable mission: to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. Malpass’s legacy is the unabashedly pro-growth vision he brought to the World Bank and his emphasis on the vital importance of a robust private sector supported by a well-managed and accountable public sector.

Rather than getting stuck in a zero-sum redistributionist mindset, Malpass focused on promoting economic growth that lifts people out of poverty. He prioritized supply-side economic policies, including private-sector investment, lower taxes, transparency, and the rule of law.

Critically, following his predecessor’s support of China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” Malpass actively sought to reduce funding to the communist state and its efforts to expand its influence in the developing world. He largely succeeded, with World Bank lending to China falling 54% to $1.1 billion in 2022 after reaching $2.4 billion in 2017 .

Malpass accomplished these things despite intense pressure from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others to dilute and distract from the World Bank’s core mission or, as Reuters recently put it , to “accelerate reforms aimed at changing the way the World Bank operates to ensure broader lending to combat climate change and other global challenges.”

Now that the Biden administration has named Malpass’s successor, some worry that incoming bank president Ajay Banga will, with the administration’s blessing, subjugate the World Bank’s goal of world prosperity in favor of a radical climate change agenda. They have every reason to be concerned.

Malpass faced intense criticism and pressure at home for insufficient commitment to the climate agenda, which the Biden administration has elevated to the center of its national and international plans. Advocates, including special climate envoy John Kerry, continue to push for a radical restructuring of international institutions such as the World Bank to put climate finance at the center of their missions.

Advocates of the radical green agenda reject the supply-side, market-based approach that prioritizes the vital need for reliable, affordable energy in the developing world.

Instead, climate advocates want a government-mandated transition that flat-out rejects all traditional energy financing. That approach guarantees a fraught energy future and makes the world increasingly dependent on Chinese supply chains. It also denies communities the capability to make the best use of their own resources and threatens to condemn much of the world to perpetual energy poverty.

Malpass felt the brunt of those who would impose this radical green agenda. He was roundly disparaged for his willingness to fund natural gas projects. Additionally, his opposition to electric vehicle projects in Africa also raised climate activists’ ire, but, as Malpass points out, it makes little sense to promote EVs where there is insufficient “E” to power the “V.”

With Malpass moving on, the Biden administration has chosen someone who shares its commitment to remaking the World Bank. With a climate radical rather than a supply-side economist at the helm, we can expect to see greater Chinese influence across the globe and greater barriers toward economic development and shared prosperity.

James Carter is the director of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Prosperity. Previously, he served as deputy undersecretary of labor under President George W. Bush and as a deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury.