Founded in 1944, the World Bank is one of the world's largest sources of development assistance. In Fiscal Year 2011, it provided US$43 billion in loans, credits and grants to reduce poverty in developing countries.
The World Bank's work in the forest sector is guided by its 2002 Forest Policy and Strategy, endorsed after an exhaustive two-year consultative process with stakeholders around the world. The strategy aims to:
- Harness the potential of forests to reduce poverty
- Integrate forests into sustainable economic development
- Protect vital local and global environmental services and values
Because the drivers of deforestation often lie outside the forest sector, the Bank Group seeks to work across sectors with partners (for example in agriculture, energy, water and mining), to define integrated, “climate-smart” solutions at the scale of entire landscapes.
The Bank also tries to leverage and blend different sources of financing to tip the balance in favor of sustainable practices. Jointly with other multilateral development banks, the World Bank serves as an implementing agency for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Forest Investment Program (FIP) and the BioCarbon Fund. It also serves as the Trustee and Secretariat of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Through these partnerships,the Bank Group is exploring a wide range of opportunities to help developing countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and to conserve, sustainably manage and enhance forest carbon stocks.
The Bank’s reach is further amplified through the knowledge it shares with other stakeholders. The Program on Forests (PROFOR), a multidonor partnership housed at the Bank since 2002, has funded over 100 knowledge activities and published targeted analysis on a broad range of forest topics related to livelihoods, governance, financing and cross-sectoral issues.
World Bank website