Remarks from the World Bank

[Music] salamu alaykum good morning excellencies ladies and gentlemen distinguished guests and partners it is an honor to be here today at the seventh edition of the Abu Dhabi sustainable Finance Forum to share with you the world bank's role in advancing the 2030 agenda for Global sustainable development but first let me reiterate what her highness had mentioned about the importance of Partnerships and the need to work together in a coordinated manner for Global challenges we just heard in the previous uh session about the efforts of UAE in addressing uh Global Climate Global Climate challenges through the need for greater a more coordinated financing I'm proud that the World Bank is a partner of the global climate Finance Center which was co-founded at cop 28 and this afternoon we will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the center to really uh put in place this Mission so on the sustainable uh development when I first walked in into the World Bank in the year 2000 on the wall it says our mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism going 13 years later that mission became concrete targets of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting shared Prosperity so when in 2015 leaders came together to adop the 17 sustainable development goals the World Bank was an integral part of the collective vision for a better world in 2030 recognizing that for the world to be a better place and to prosper we have to put people planet and prosperity at the heart of our actions today we continue to be closely aligned with the sdgs as we support our 189 member countries achieved the goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a livable planet just in the past year the World Bank committed 72.8 billion to its member countries in support of these high goals while all of the 17 development goals are important I'd like to highlight six of them that uh is important to show what the World Bank has been doing first our mission to eradicate extreme poverty and boost shared Prosperity aligns with sdg1 which aims to end Pro poverty in all its forms Everywhere by 2030 the World Bank has been instrumental in this endeavor over the years focusing on eradicating Extreme poverty defined as living on less than $2.15 or $215 a day significant progress was made between 1990 and 2019 with the global extreme poverty rate declining from 38% to 8.5% however as you all know with recent crisis the covid pandemic the conflicts the situation has reversed and a lot of these gains have been lost in 2020 alone approximately 70 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty bringing the total to an estimated 719 million people the World Bank continues to address these challenges through comprehensive strategies including financing development projects providing policy advice and fostering Partnerships to support economic growth enhanced social Protection Systems and improve access to essential Services second on sustainable development goal three which focuses on good health and well-being we're supporting countries in delivering quality affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by the year 2030 the goal is for not just but our children and our grandchildren to lead healthier and better lives this is part of a larger Global effort to provide a basic standard of core of care through every stage of a person's life from infancy throughout uh adolescence up to adulthood and to help people withstand food affected shocks which we're seeing increasingly around the world we're strengthening social Protection Services to support half a billion people by the end of 2030 this we are also aiming to benefit uh women as much as it benefits men the third goal I would like to mention is on the sdg4 which is really close to my heart and it's about education and that's where it all begins and this is where the UAE has made impressive Investments the World Bank group is the largest Finance year of Education in the developing world with a portfolio of about 26 billion in 94 countries we are committed to helping these countries meet the target of achieving ACC access to inclusive and Equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030 the fourth sdg I'd like to give an example of is our contribution to sdg7 access to Affordable reliable sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 we are doing that through sustainable energy solutions in 2023 we delivered the record 42.

6 billion in climate Finance supporting projects like electric bus rapid transit systems in Egypt and Sagal and expanding electricity access through a solar home system program that provided electricity to 18 million in Bangladesh zooming into Africa where half the population 600 million people lack access to electricity the World Bank recently launched missions 300 or m300 which is our commitment to provide access to uh electricity to 300 million people in Africa by 2030 in partnership with the African Development Bank the International Development agency of the World Bank group Ida is the largest provider of financing in Africa in 2023 Ida deployed more than 26 billion to Africa accounting for 77% of its commitments this is an increase of 24% over the past 5 years for over 60 years Ida has provided zero on low interest loans grants and unmat and unmatched development expertise to the world's poorest countries as well as to those countries that are highly exposed to Growing impact of climate change and those in situations of fragility conflict and violence many of which lack access to any other resources just last week at the 21st replenishment for Ida in sou uh South Korea we were proud to announce that Ida has raised 25 billion in donor contributions which will generate a total of a 100 billion in affordable financing for these countries this funding will support 78 countries in investing in health education infrastructure structure and climate resilience stabilizing economies creating jobs and empowering Nations to navigate an uncertain World fifth on sdg8 targeting decent work and economic growth the World Bank group has put a renewed emphasis on job creation as a central objective in all that we do it is estimated that over the next 10 years 1.2 billion young people across the the global South will become working age adults however only 420 million jobs are expected to be created during this period the cost of hundreds of millions of young people with no hope for a decent job will impact not just the peace and stability in their countries but globally this is an important agenda for all of us regardless of where we are to address this the World Bank established a high level advisory Council on jobs co-chaired by Singapore's president and former Chilean president Michelle bashet to explore innovative solutions for generating employment opportunities for young people let me also mention here the efforts of the international Finance Corporation the private arm of the World Bank group leveraging its expertise and Partnerships the IFC C Bridges funding gaps in Emerging Markets by mobilizing private capital and Investments to address the world's most pressing challenges its Investments not only generate economic returns but also deliver measurable social environmental impacts and ensure that private Capital works for the public good the the sixth and final example which is also probably one of the most important important ones today is with regards to sdg13 and climate change this uh sdg has been the focus of a lot of the presentations this morning and a lot of the discussions in the past few years by 2025 we're channeling 45% of our annual financing to climate action deployed equally between mitigation and adaptation among other efforts we intend to launch at least 15 country-led methane reduction programs by 2026 and our forest carbon partnership facility has helped strengthen high integrity carbon markets ladies and gentlemen the World Bank group is committed to supporting countries as they strive to achieve their goals but we know that we cannot do this alone that's why we're working closely with other multi atal development banks with the private sector and government Partners like the UAE to improve the lives of people in developing countries in tangible measurable ways the world today is very different from when the sdgs were adopted in 2015 on the positive side today 5.3 billion people are now online compared to 3.8 billion in 2015 renewable energy production has nearly tripled and Global Health Innovations like the covid-19 vaccine have saved millions of lives all at the same time the pandemic pushed 70 million people back into extreme poverty over 1.6 billion children had their education disrupted generating La learning losses that still 3 years later have not been recouped a 110 million people are now forcibly displaced due to the conflicts and Wars the highest number in history and extreme weather events linked to climate change from devastating floods to record-breaking heat waves have also intensified this reminds us that the sustainable development goals are not just aspirations their are lifelines demanding urgent action to ensure progress out Paces Peril 2030 is less than 6 years away we may not reach all the targets set out in 2015 but with our Collective commitment and collaboration action and Innovation I am confident that we can pull more people out of poverty extreme poverty we can provide Better Health and education for children create more and better jobs for youth and more sustainable livelihoods for families while protecting our PL our climate this is our greatest resource thank you [Music]