This review provides an independent assessment of the World Bank Group's performance in achieving key development objectives, with a special focus on support for environmentally sustainable development consistent with economic growth and poverty reduction. The response to the global financial crisis has continued to dominate development and the work of international institutions, including the World Bank Group. Following a pattern similar to previous crises, World Bank lending has seen a sharp, countercyclical expansion, and IFC investments as a whole have undergone a procyclical contraction