The Directions paper set a principles-based course for the World Bank Group’s work in the energy sector with a focus on expanding energy access and sustainable energy, aligned with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative.

The paper states that the World Bank Group will make every effort to “minimize the financial and environmental costs of expanding reliable energy supply” while also recognizing that “each country determines its own path for achieving its energy aspirations.” It emphasizes the importance of selecting areas in which it can best help countries mobilize energy solutions that reduce poverty sustainably.

Statements explicitly mentioned woodfuel issue include:

-          The WBG will expand engagement in clean cooking and heating solutions.

-          Rapid urbanization across the developing world will affect energy use and efforts to increase energy access. In some regions, urbanization has increased concentrated biomass consumption, potentially leading to deforestation and rising prices. This is true particularly of charcoal, which requires large quantities of wood to manufacture, and underscores the importance of sustainable production of biomass fuel as well as fuel switching to modern energy sources.