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which shows that governments must overcome
a growing demographic divide to make future
progress. Half of the world lives in countries
where populations are relatively young and
growing, but are poor with little access to quality
education. The other half lives in countries
where populations are contracting, aging and
retiring; these countries drive most of the world’s
economic activity, but their economic growth is
at risk as birth rates and the numbers of workers
decline.
These demographic realities can be a golden
opportunity for both poor and rich countries. An
influx of working-age refugees or migrants into a
country with an aging population can ultimately
reap benefits for everyone – but as we have
been witnessing for the past few years due to
the ongoing conflict in Syria the flow of refugees
can lead to tragedy as well. Jordan, Lebanon
and Turkey have taken in several million Syrians
in recent years, generously providing shelter,
schooling, and other services. Now, hundreds
of thousands of mostly Syrian refugees have
been pouring into Europe. This has tested
Europe’s leaders and its people, as it did Syria’s
neighbors, and we admire the outpouring
of help and generosity from many across
Europe. For all involved, the refugee crisis is an
immensely difficult challenge. The World Bank
Group has been assisting the host communities
of the refugees in Lebanon and Jordan for the
past few years, and now we’re exploring new
ways to increase our help for Syria’s neighbors.
The second topic is climate change. Climate
change affects every nation and every person,
but it hits poor people the hardest. The world
must cut emissions and invest in greater
resilience now.
At the Paris conference in December, countries
must show real ambition. Political will for urgent
action is critical. We believe there are politically
credible pathways to deliver $100 billion dollars a
year in climate financing for developing countries
by 2020. Meeting this commitment will build
the trust and confidence necessary for credible
emissions’ reduction targets. Much of that $100
billion dollars is already flowing, with multilateral
development banks providing critical financing.
The World Bank Group stands ready to scale
up its support to meet increasing demand
from countries. The world must act now to put
a price on carbon, end fossil fuel subsidies,
increase access to renewable energy and
improve efficiency, build cleaner and more
livable cities, and invest in climate-smart
agriculture. We will be having active discussions
with our shareholders in the coming days to do
all we can to help the world find solutions that
are equal to the challenge of climate change.
Thank you very much. I’ll now take your
questions.
Taken from the opening press conference of
the World Bank & IMF Annual Meetings2015,
Lima, Peru