Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the report by Oxfam Climate Finance Unchecked, published on 17 October, which states that between $24 billion and $41 billion of World Bank climate finance is unaccounted for due to poor record-keeping practices; and how much funding the UK has provided to the World Bank over the last 7 years in climate finance.

The FCDO and World Bank recognise the need to provide clearer and more timely information on World Bank climate initiatives and we are pushing them to explore ways to do that, as part of broader efforts to improve transparency.

We have reservations about the findings in the Oxfam report due to the methodology adopted. The World Bank disburses over 95 per cent of funds allocated to climate projects, and undisbursed funds are repurposed for other development needs. The World Bank's operations are also subjected to strict oversight and independent audits, in line with international standards.

The UK has provided £3.9 billion to the World Bank's International Development Association, the fund for the poorest countries, over the last four years - of which approximately 38 per cent was spent on climate-related programmes. We are also a 4 per cent shareholder in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which lends to middle-income countries, and last year committed $38 billion. The Bank has a target for 45 per cent of its spending to be on climate related programmes.