World Bank to cease financing upstream oil and gas after 2019

French President Emmanuel Macron during the Climate Change Summit, Paris, France [PHOTO: COURTESY]

The World Bank will no longer finance upstream oil and gas projects after 2019, apart from certain gas projects in the poorest countries in exceptional circumstances, it said on Tuesday, drawing praise from environmental groups.

The announcement came as French President Emmanuel Macron told dozens of world leaders and company executives at a climate summit that they were losing the battle against climate change and needed to react.

Greenpeace welcomed the move.

"The World Bank ... has sent a damning vote of no confidence to the future of the fossil fuel industry," Greenpeace International climate campaigner Gyorgy Dallos said, challenging banks to follow suite.

Stephen Kretzmann, of the Oil Change International advocacy group, said it was time for all of the institutions, countries, investors and individuals who are still in the Paris Agreement to stop funding fossil fuels.

This decision was made at the Paris Climate Change Summit that was held in Paris, France on Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron addressed a group of more than 50 world leaders and 200 global investors. Macron emphasized the need for ‘rapid response’ to scale down the climatic rot. He persuaded the stakeholders to act ‘lest they lose the war’ on climate change.