Citing the existential threat to civilization posed by the climate crisis, former Vice President Al Gore today joined the chorus of leading global voices calling for new, more effective leadership at the World Bank at the “ESG to Carbon Free Summit,” presented by Western Digital and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG).

“The World Bank ought to be leading the way to fix that, but the World Bank has been completely missing in action,” said Gore, speaking to drastic inequality in access to affordable capital between the developed and developing nations, hindering the adoption of aggressive climate reduction strategies in some of the regions most at risk to climate impacts.

While emphasizing his support for President Biden, Gore nonetheless urged him to call for a vote to demand the resignation of current World Bank President David Malpass, to bring new leadership and ensure that the Bank realizes its central mission to help fund the fundamental needs of the developing world.

“The idea that facing this climate crisis, the national community is not fixing the access to capital in developing countries is literally insane,” proclaimed Gore.

In a wide-ranging virtual conversation with SVLG CEO Ahmad Thomas, Gore also spoke to the emergence of a sustainability revolution across every sector of the economy, pointing to promising advances and climate solutions such as the maturation of renewable energy generation, as well as transportation electrification, circular supply chains, advances in regenerative agriculture and sustainable forestry.