ABSTRACT
Created in 1944, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or “World Bank,” is a multilateral financial institution lending approximately US$20–30 billion annually to its member states. The World Bank has a weighted voting system based on members’ capital, and a formula of basic and proportional votes. Pressure from environmentalists has been crucial for the World Bank’s incorporation of environmental concerns. The debate focused on whether the Bank can become green or whether it has merely greenwashed its operations. The World Bank initially established an environmental unit in 1970 for a mixture of economic arguments in favor of limiting environmental destruction, political support for environmental policies, and intellectual engagement by the then World Bank President Robert McNamara. In 2016 the World Bank implemented a new Environmental and Social Framework to shape its lending after four years of intense global consultation.
