WCC NEWS: “Follow the Money” event will examine banks’ role in ecological destruction

The World Council of Churches will host a hybrid event entitled “Follow the Money: Multilateral Development Banks, Fossils Fuels and Climate Justice” on 14 October. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth 08 October 2026 The event will occur as International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings are underway. With their public mandates, financial resources and ability to leverage additional investment, multilateral development banks could play an important role in financing the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, and sustainable economies. Yet concerns remain about the banks’ continued support for fossil fuel projects and other investments that contribute to ecological destruction, carbon-intensive development, and climate vulnerability, as well as about debt-based financing that place additional burdens on countries already facing climate and debt crises. This hybrid event will examine where money from multilateral development banks is going, what kinds of energy systems and development pathways they are helping to finance, and who bears the costs and risks. A case study will illustrate the social, ecological, and financial impacts of bank-supported investments. The discussion will then turn to pathways for change, including legal and accountability tools that communities, civil society, and affected peoples can use to challenge harmful financing and hold public financiers to account.   Registration for this webinar See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland