In October 2017, SustainUS sent a delegation of 18 young people from across the U.S to the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. They came together to advocate for a fossil-free future built on affordable, renewable energy and sustainable development. Delegates stood up to ask difficult questions at high-level panels, and participated in actions pushing the World Bank to answer to the mission written across its headquarters: end poverty. They joined a new, powerful coalition of NGOs and community groups from around the world advocating for development banks to make a Big Shift away from fossil fuels. The week was rewarded by two major victories. President Jim Yong Kim publicly committed the World Bank to reporting their full portfolio carbon emissions in 2018, and two months later went further and committed to end financing of upstream oil and gas by 2019.
