Last year, rich countries pledged some $6 billion for the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), to which the UK is a significant contributor. It has recently been announced that some 8 countries are allowed to submit proposals for the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). These are Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Tajikistan and Zambia.

The PPCR aims to provide about $500 million for integrating climate resilience in national development planning, an issue on which I have written before. The cash will be spent through the regional development banks (ADB, AfDB, IDB) as well as the EBRD and the World Bank itself. Apparently, the pilot programs will be “country-led” and build on NAPAs, amongst other things. It is also promised that they will be aligned with the Adaptation Fund under Kyoto.

It is good that such a large dollop of adaptation financing is finally being handed out. However, many NGOs are critical of the Bank’s leadership on the CIFs, given its poor environmental record, and its history (and continuing large portifolio) of fossil fuel investments.

Nevertheless, the Bank is fairly efficient machine as far as multilaterals go, and works in virtually all developing countries. It is difficult to see many other agencies (particularly within the UN system, as favoured by NGOs) that could do as quick, and good, a job given the huge amounts of money involved. Nevertheless, the Bank’s role is likely to remain controversial in some circles.