Ready or not, here we come! World Bank, it’s time to be accountable

Written by Bianca Santos, a SustainUS World Bank delegate and a graduate of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary

The first couple thoughts that ran through my head when I stumbled upon the application call for the SustainUS 2018 World Bank Delegation were a mix of “Wow, this sounds really cool!” and “Am I qualified for this?” As I read more about the organization and the previous SustainUS delegations, I was inspired by the community of young people rallying together for a common cause: environmental justice and advocacy.

With the second day of the Spring 2018 World Bank Meetings in full swing, our eight-person delegation has met, strategized, energized, and inspired one another; and is ready for the week ahead. Collectively our goals are to:

1. Amplify the youth voice in institutional decision-making and increase awareness and understanding of World Bank structures, processes, and policies.
2. Construct political cover for other CSOs by promoting mutual interests through youth spokespeople. Specifically, we will use earned and social media to apply pressure and promote intersections of mutual interests of CSOs and youth spokespeople.
3. Build meaningful co­educational relationships with other CSOs and WBG participants as a means to advance further collaborative opportunities for youth.

Additionally, we have identified four top-line priorities for which we will advocate during the World Bank meetings:

• We hold the World Bank accountable for its commitment to reduce fossil fuel financing. We will pressure the World Bank to expand and strengthen divestment commitment to end all investments in fossil fuels by 2020.
• We will hold the World Bank accountable for its commitment to address energy poverty sustainably and demand improvements in the transparency of World Bank investments in energy.
• We work to increase the World Bank’s accountability to impacted communities and marginalized people and push the Bank to enhance mechanisms for consent and recipient control in communities the World Bank finances.
• We demand the scale up energy access and renewable energy finance.

With a game plan sketched out, we are ready to learn, network, and advocate for climate justice on behalf of youth around the world. World Bank, we are coming for you! Are you ready?