Thursday's nomination of former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank likely formalized the institution's shift toward a greater focus on climate change.
But the bank, which finances projects for low- and middle-income countries with the goal of reducing global poverty, may fail to meet its primary mission with the new strategy, according to conservative critics.
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"The misguided policies of Western countries to discourage energy use condemn billions of people around the world to impoverished lives," said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the Heritage Foundation. "This poverty is collateral damage for the consciences of Western elites."
Developing nations cannot be brought up to Western standards of living using wind and solar power alone, Furchtgott-Roth argues, and many will continue to lack basic utilities like electricity and running water.
If confirmed, Banga would take over for departing World Bank President David Malpass, a Trump appointee who came under fire for comments he made last September that were seen as not being friendly to climate change.
"I'm not a scientist," he said in response to a climate question, leading to widespread calls for his ouster. Former Vice President Al Gore labeled Malpass a climate denier.
The White House also denounced Malpass in the controversy's wake, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying, "We expect the World Bank to be a global leader of climate ambition and mobilization as well, with significantly more climate finance for developing countries."
Malpass insists he isn't being pushed out, but he will leave the World Bank in June, nearly a full year before the end of his term.
Banga, on the other hand, has a longer track record of climate initiatives and has already worked with Vice President Kamala Harris on programs designed to address the root causes of migration in Central America.
Those climate bona fides played prominently in statements from Biden and Harris announcing his nomination.
"[Banga] has critical experience mobilizing public-private resources to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change," Biden said.
Harris added, "Ajay Banga will be a transformative World Bank President as the institution works to deliver on its core development goals and address pressing global challenges, including climate change."
Banga would join the World Bank from General Atlantic, where he serves as vice chairman. He was CEO of Mastercard for more than a decade, quadrupling its profits and reportedly earning $27.77 million in 2020.
The World Bank was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a staff of nearly 16,000. The United States is the bank's largest shareholder and traditionally chooses its leader, though 189 countries are members.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has also thrown her support behind refocusing the bank on climate change and public health and has called for expanding its access to capital as well.
But those goals sit at odds with reducing global poverty, argues the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Iain Murray.
"The likely effect will be to push infrastructure projects in the developing world away from effective initiatives that could quickly lower the effects of poverty, such as child mortality," he said. "Instead, the focus will be on more expensive, less effective renewable energy and other climate-focused projects. The winners will be the consultant class, the losers poor people in the global South."
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The result could be the further impoverishment of the developing world, critics say, for political purposes.
“Those who are telling emerging economies to cut back take energy for granted," said Furchtgott-Roth. "They cannot imagine living without hot high-pressure showers, reliable gasoline, clothes dryers, and large refrigerators — as well as air conditioning and heating.”