The President of the World Bank will step down from his post in June, leaving the organization almost a year before his term expires.
David Malpass announced his decision on social media without giving a specific reason for his departure.
Former US President Donald Trump’s pick has been criticized as a climate change denier.
Last year, the White House rebuked him after saying he didn’t know if fossil fuels were driving climate change.
He later apologized for the comments.
Mr. Malpass began his five-year term in April 2019 after serving at the US Treasury Department during the Trump administration.
In a statement, Mr Malpass said he was proud of what he had achieved at the bank, which lends billions of dollars to developing countries each year.
Funding “including climate finance” has reached record levels under his leadership, he added.
“By the end of the fiscal year, we will be well positioned to more prominently emphasize sustainability in the World Bank Group’s mission, to align mission with resources, and to embark on effective development to increase the institution’s impact on the people within it increase in developing countries,” he wrote in a statement shared on LinkedIn.
Mr. Malpass, who was skeptical of multilateral institutions, has long been considered a controversial choice to lead the World Bank.
At an event in September, former US Vice President Al Gore called for his replacement, saying the bank was not doing enough to raise funds for climate issues and that it was “ridiculous to have a climate denier at the helm of the World Bank.”
When later asked for an answer, Mr Malpass defended himself but declined to say fossil fuels caused climate change.
In a subsequent interview with CNN, he said he didn’t do a good job of answering or hearing the question and that man-made emissions “clearly” contributed.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who has been pushing for reforms at the World Bank and other development banks, thanked Mr Malpass for his service in a statement alluding to the controversy.
“While we all need to continue to raise our collective ambitions to fight climate change, the World Bank has made important strides in this area during President Malpass’s tenure,” she said.
She said the US would soon propose a new candidate to run the bank.
The US is the World Bank’s largest shareholder and a major source of funding.
An American has headed the institution since its beginnings in the 1940s, when it was established to help rebuild Europe after World War II.
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