AAP FACTCHECK – An Oxfam report did not find that $US41 billion has gone “missing” from the World Bank’s climate change fund under the term of its president Ajay Banga, contrary to claims online.
The charity’s research reveals that no funds are missing; instead, the bank did not track whether individual project components labelled “climate finance” during the approval phase continued to qualify for that definition.
Oxfam says Mr Banga’s leadership of the bank did not impact its findings.
New Zealand Christian preacher Brian Tamaki, founder and co-leader of the Freedoms NZ political party, made the claim in a Facebook post featuring a graphic that reads “Make NZ Kiwi Again”.
The post also features images of Mr Banga, who is Sikh, and NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wearing a Sikh head covering at an event.
“A staggering $41 billion has gone missing from the globalist World Bank’s Climate Change fund under the watch of Ajay Banga…yet another influential Sikh in a position of great power,” the caption claims.
“Oxfam has announced the news this week, that there is no public record detailing where the money went or how it was spent.”
The post continues: “There are unverified reports that this missing money will now be used to undermine Western countries’ democracies.
“New Zealand contributed at least $33 million in 2023 to the World Bank through Pacific projects. How much of our money has gone missing?”
Oxfam’s Climate Finance Unchecked report analysed World Bank-funded projects between 2017 and 2023.
It explained that the global lender tagged individual costs within the overall spend on each project that qualified as “climate finance” at the approval stage.
While the World Bank’s overall spending on each project “tended to balance out”, an Oxfam spokesperson said, there was no way to track if individual cost items still qualified for a climate finance tag at the project completion stage.
Oxfam found that $US24 billion to $US41 billion ($A36.5 billion to $A62.4 billion) labelled as “climate finance” at the approval stage of projects couldn’t be confirmed as still qualifying for that label at completion, due to the bank’s accounting processes between 2017 and 2023.
The charity said it was not alleging any mismanagement of funds due to corruption or waste; it was concerned about the World Bank’s reporting process for deviations in planned and actual climate finance.
“This distinction is significant,” Oxfam’s spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
“Oxfam’s report doesn’t suggest funds are missing but points to a transparency issue that makes it difficult to know precisely what the Bank is delivering in terms of climate finance: where it’s going and what it’s supporting.
“Knowing this is crucial for tracking the real impact of climate funding and holding institutions accountable.”
Tamaki’s reference to NZ’s financial contribution to the World Bank in 2023 refers to the country’s pledge to provide $NZ33 million to support projects in the Pacific.
Mr Banga became World Bank president in June 2023, while the Oxfam report covered the 2017/18 to 2022/23 financial years, focusing on projects initiated before his tenure.
“Regarding Ajay Banga’s leadership: no, it did not have any bearing on the findings,” the spokesperson said.
The Facebook post also implies Mr Luxon was linked to the World Bank head’s brother, Manvinder Singh Banga, because they once worked at Unilever at the same time.
AAP FactCheck was unable to find any publicly available evidence of a personal or professional relationship between the NZ prime minister and the Banga brothers.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked Tamaki’s claim about COVID-19 vaccination.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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