Energy and the environment head the list of concerns for the world’s leading economic policymakers, who have been meeting in Washington, D.C., at the spring session of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

As the session wraps up today with a meeting of the World Bank steering committee, the questions at the top of the agenda are “how wealthy nations can help developing countries meet their energy needs while protecting the environment” and “how development agencies can reinforce good government practices and fight corruption,’ The Associated Press reported.

Paul Wolfowitz, head of the World Bank and former deputy defense secretary, said the World Bank’s Development Committee would consider “options for increasing investments to help developing countries meet their energy needs while leaving a smaller environmental footprint."

A report drafted for this weekend's meeting at the request of Group of Eight (G8) leading nations urges the World Bank steering committee to approve what Reuters called "a new breed of loans and grants that would go to developing countries to help them make power generation cleaner and more efficient."

According to the World Bank, developing nations will have to invest roughly $300 billion annually for the next 25 years to meet their energy needs, primarily in electricity. The report, which focuses on how nations can get the energy they need without damaging the environment, recommends investments in biofuel, geothermal power plants and wind energy and also suggests strategies to help consumers use less energy.

In 2001, the World Bank board of directors endorsed an environment strategy to guide the bank's actions related to the environment. According to the World Bank Web site, “the World Bank is one of the key promoters and financiers of environmental upgrading in the developing world.”

On the other hand, the World Bank and its sister organization the International Monetary Fund often have been criticized for financing projects and implementing policies that have been detrimental to the natural environment and human rights.