Embattled World Bank President David Malpass backtracked Thursday on his stance on climate change in a CNN interview. Earlier in the week, Malpass would not confirm whether he believed the scientific consensus that fossil fuels were responsible for dangerously warming the planet.

"I don't even know. I'm not a scientist and that is not a question," Malpass said Tuesday at a panel discussion hosted by the New York Times at Climate Week in New York City.

The comment drew calls for Malpass, a former senior economic advisor in Trump administration, to resign as president. At the event, Malpass sidestepped the question on multiple occasions, prompting former Vice President Al Gore to call him a "climate denier."

Malpass has since said he accepted the scientific conclusion that links human activity to the warming of the planet.

"It's clear that greenhouse gas emissions are coming from man-made sources, including fossil fuels," he told CNN on Thursday.

In a memo sent to World Bank staff and obtained by the Times, Malpass wrote that "greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are causing climate change, and that the sharp increase in the use of coal, diesel, and heavy fuel oil in both advanced economies and developing countries is creating another wave of the climate crisis."

Malpass' comments come amid recent scrutiny levied against the World Bank for ignoring climate change. The Times wrote that the World Bank "continues to fund oil and gas projects, despite a declaration by the International Energy Agency that countries must stop financing new fossil fuel development" to combat the climate crisis.

Malpass, 66, is currently in the third year of his five-year term. There has been speculation he will step down before 2024.

Climate change