Transforming intermediaries to accelerate sustainability transitions: The case of the World Bank Group and clean energy technology deployment

This paper investigates the roles and evolution of incumbent intermediaries in sustainability transitions, focusing on the World Bank Group (WBG) and its support for renewable energy technologies in developing countries. We propose a framework analyzing how “fitness”—the alignment between technology characteristics, regime conditions, and intermediary structures—shapes patterns of intermediary support. We find that the WBG's success in scaling up support for technologies depends on this alignment, as well as on efforts to improve fitness through knowledge creation, capacity building, and complementary infrastructure investments. The WBG operates across a spectrum of intermediary modes, shifting between them as technologies mature and transition contexts evolve. Aside from acting as an “in-between”, the WBG also engages in “intermediation-by-doing”, deploying financial and technical inputs to generate catalytic effects. Yet technologies that are less commercially viable or which require context-specific adaptation remain under-supported despite potential development benefits. We show that internal change agents can push incumbent intermediaries toward transformation, though the scope of change may be bounded by institutional path dependencies. These findings advance understanding of how incumbent intermediaries in the finance regime navigate diverse transition settings, highlighting that becoming fit for purpose requires adaptive capabilities and the flexibility to shift roles as fitness conditions change.