World Bank to end ban on nuclear energy projects, still debating upstream gas

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - The World Bank's board has agreed to end a longstanding ban on funding nuclear energy projects in developing countries as part of a broader push to meet rising electricity needs, the bank's president Ajay Banga said on Wednesday.

Banga outlined the bank's revised energy strategy in an email to staff after what he called a constructive discussion with the board on Tuesday. He said the board was not yet in agreement on whether the bank should engage in upstream natural gas projects, and if so, under what circumstances.

"This will require further discussion," he wrote.

The global development bank, which lends at low rates to help countries build everything from flood barriers to railroads, announced in 2017 it would stop funding upstream oil and gas projects beginning in 2019, although it would still consider gas projects in the poorest countries. It decided in 2013 to stop funding nuclear power projects.

Banga has championed a shift in the bank's energy policy since taking office in June 2023, arguing the bank should pursue an "all of the above" approach to help countries meet rising electricity needs and advance development goals.