Egypt’s Hassan Abdalla: Climate change could add 132 million poor by 2030

Climate change poses a structural challenge that could drive around 132 million people around the world into extreme poverty by 2030, said Egypt’s central bank governor Hassan Abdalla on Friday.

Speaking at the plenary session of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) Boards of Governors in Washington D.C., Abdalla said the world economy is still suffering from the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and the continued spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

He explained that international financial institutions, particularly multilateral development banks, could play a key role in lowering carbon emissions and achieving just transition to climate resilience, through increasing allocations for climate finance and expanding their concessional tools for climate-related risks.

The World Bank launched a crisis-response package worth $170 billion that aims to assist member states with building resilience against climate change and future epidemics, the Egyptian official added.

He also noted that the IMF initiated the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), which targets helping low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries address longer-term challenges, including those related to climate change and pandemic preparedness.