Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has indicated he will put the climate crisis and overseas development at the heart of UK foreign policy by taking up the country’s seat on the board of the World Bank – a role usually delegated to a junior minister.
The move means Miliband will play an active role in shaping changes to the global lender that developing countries have called for, and ensuring the climate remains a core focus for overseas aid. His announcement comes as wildfires continue to devastate swathes of France and Spain, and after Scotland called for military aid to tackle a blaze that engulfed the Cairngorms. Conditions approaching drought across England and parts of Wales have prompted hosepipe bans, while the heatwave that swept across Europe in June is estimated to have cost the continent’s grain farmers €2bn (£1.7bn) in lost revenue.
“Ed Miliband takes World Bank seat personally, vowing climate and development are central to UK foreign policy.”
Miliband, who was energy and net zero secretary under Keir Starmer, will say: “International development is not an add-on to British foreign policy – it is central to it. By taking on the role of UK governor to the World Bank, I want to send an unambiguous signal that this government is serious about its global leadership on development and climate.”
The decision comes at a crucial time for the World Bank, which has come under heavy pressure from the Trump administration to reverse a previous focus on climate finance. Last month, the publicly funded bank scrapped its goal for 45% of its finance to be directed to climate-related ends.
Experts welcomed Miliband’s move as a boost to climate action. Lord Stern, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics, said the foreign secretary’s take-up of the UK governor’s seat would “send a powerful and important signal” to the world. “As a former chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank, I know that the UK can punch above its weight,” he said. “But only if the leadership is there from the top. In recent years, that has slipped. Ed Miliband will be restoring development and climate to the priority in our international relationships that they must have, in a world facing climatic breakdown.”
By taking up the World Bank seat personally, Miliband is sending a clear signal that while other politicians even now argue against net zero policies, the Foreign Office will continue to drive climate action. The question now is whether the UK’s voice alone can shift the balance at a lender that has already bent to Washington’s will.