World Bank Climate Mitigation: What Gets Measured and What Gets Missed

This paper reviews the performance metrics by which the World Bank judges the success of its climate mitigation projects. These indicators provide valuable insights into what such projects are aiming to achieve, as well as shedding light on what the World Bank is actually achieving through each of its projects. Overall, despite common conceptions, performance metrics suggest that World Bank mitigation projects are rarely motivated by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This metric is rarely tracked, and projects tend to focus instead on energy access and other infrastructure. However, where the World Bank does report its GHG emissions impact, performance metrics suggest that the World Bank mitigation projects are reasonably cost-effective in reducing emissions, with an average cost per ton of CO₂ equivalent averted of between $26 and $43. But projects financed from trust funds specifically targeting climate objectives avert GHG emissions at much lower costs.