WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AFP) — The World Bank announced last Thursday that it delivered a record US$42.6 billion in climate change financing in the last financial year, up 10 per cent from a year earlier.

The development lender has looked to boost its climate financing commitment under new President Ajay Banga, who took over last year on a pledge to reform the 80-year-old Washington-based institution.

In December, the bank committed to raising the proportion of its annual financing that goes to climate change adaptation from 35 per cent to 45 per cent starting in the fiscal 2025 year, which began in July.

But it came close to that objective this fiscal year, announcing in a statement on Thursday that around 44 per cent of the World Bank Group’s total financing of US$97 billion had a climate financing component.

This figure included lending, along with other financial instruments such as grants and guarantees, a World Bank official told AFP by e-mail.

That financing assisted in “supporting efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, investing in cleaner energy, more resilient communities, and stronger economies”, the bank said, adding: “there is more to do.”

The largest contributors were the International Development Association, the bank’s concessional lending arm, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which together delivered US$31 billion, the World Bank said.