France, July 2 -- The bank's five-year Climate Change Action Plan expired on Tuesday. Last year it put 48 percent of its lending - worth $51 billion - into projects with climate benefits, surpassing its original 45 percent target.

More than one-third of that funding went to Africa.

The change followed pressure from the United States, the bank's largest shareholder, despite European governments and many developing countries pushing to keep the 45 percent goal.

While that target has now been removed, the broader climate plan will now continue without an end date.

The bank's climate work "is and will remain firmly client-driven, supporting them in delivering on their own ambitions", World Bank president Ajay Banga wrote in an internal me...