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Acting today for tomorrow: a policy and practice note for climate and disaster resilient development in the pacific islands region
World Bank, 2012This Policy and Practice Note grows out of extensive consultations with countries, regional organizations, and donors and other development partners, and it is addressed primarily to high-level policymakers and decision makers within them. Its analysis and recommendations are meant to inform DRR and CCA planning across a range of institutions at all levels. Specifically, they are intended to inform the design and implementation of the joint Roadmap towards a Post 2015 Integrated Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, as well as preparation ...
Acting today for tomorrow: a policy and practice note for climate and disaster resilient development in the pacific islands region
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Available online: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/06/0 [...]
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the ; World Bank
Published by: World Bank ; 2012This Policy and Practice Note grows out of extensive consultations with countries, regional organizations, and donors and other development partners, and it is addressed primarily to high-level policymakers and decision makers within them. Its analysis and recommendations are meant to inform DRR and CCA planning across a range of institutions at all levels. Specifically, they are intended to inform the design and implementation of the joint Roadmap towards a Post 2015 Integrated Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, as well as preparation of an implementation strategy for integrating DRR and CCA across the World Bank’s development operations in the Pacific.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Climate ; Climate change ; Disaster Risk Management (DRM) ; Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) ; Adaptation ; Climate change - Mitigation ; Island ; Region V - South-West Pacific
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Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils
World Bank, 2012The purpose of this report is to improve the knowledge base for facilitating investments in land management technologies that sequester soil organic carbon. While there are many studies on soil carbon sequestration, there is no single unifying volume that synthesizes knowledge on the impact of different land management practices on soil carbon sequestration rates across the world. A meta-analysis was carried out to provide soil carbon sequestration rates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This is one important element in decision-making for sustainable agricultural intensification, agro-ecosy ...
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Available online: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/05/1 [...]
Published by: World Bank ; 2012
The purpose of this report is to improve the knowledge base for facilitating investments in land management technologies that sequester soil organic carbon. While there are many studies on soil carbon sequestration, there is no single unifying volume that synthesizes knowledge on the impact of different land management practices on soil carbon sequestration rates across the world. A meta-analysis was carried out to provide soil carbon sequestration rates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This is one important element in decision-making for sustainable agricultural intensification, agro-ecosystems resilience, and comprehensive assessments of greenhouse mitigation potentials of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices. Furthermore, the ecosystem simulation modeling technique was used to predict future carbon storage in global cropland soils. Last, marginal abatement cost curves and trade-off graphs were used to assess the cost-effectiveness of the technologies in carbon sequestration. The remainder of the report is organized as follows. Chapter two provides a brief review of soil organic carbon dynamics and the methods for soil carbon assessment. The chapter concludes with brief information on carbon assessment in The World Bank's sustainable land management projects portfolio. Chapter three reports the increase in soil carbon for selected sustainable land management practices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Chapter four reports the estimates from ecosystem simulation, while chapter five concludes with the benefits and costs of adopting carbon sequestering practices and a discussion of policy options to support climate smart agriculture in developing countries. The report will provide a broad perspective to natural resource managers and other professionals involved in scaling up Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Environment and landscape ; Agroclimatology ; Soils ; Carbon dioxide (CO2) ; Afforestation ; Soil-atmosphere interaction
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The Little Green Data Book 2012
World Bank, 2012The Little Green Data Book is a pocket-sized ready reference on key environmental data for over 200 economies. Key indicators are organized under the headings of agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, energy, emission and pollution, and water and sanitation.
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Available online: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/561691468157528320/The-little-green-da [...]
Published by: World Bank ; 2012
The Little Green Data Book is a pocket-sized ready reference on key environmental data for over 200 economies. Key indicators are organized under the headings of agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, energy, emission and pollution, and water and sanitation.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Environment and landscape ; Air pollution ; Water pollution ; Green economy ; Statistics ; Region I - Africa ; Region II - Asia ; Region III - South America ; Region IV - North America, Central America and the Caribbean ; Region V - South-West Pacific ; Region VI - Europe
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Sustainable low-carbon city development in China
Cities contribute an estimated 70 percent of the world's energy-related greenhouse gases (GHG). Their locations, often in low-elevation coastal zones, and large populations make them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. But cities often take steps, even ahead of national governments, to reduce GHG emissions. So it is with China's cities, which are well placed to chart a low-carbon growth path to help reach China's national targets for reducing the energy and carbon intensity of its economy. China's cities will need to act on multiple fronts, in some cases scaling up elemen ...
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Available online: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/02/15879709/sustainable-low-carbo [...]
Axel Baeumler ; Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez ; Shomik Mehndiratta ; World Bank
Published by: World Bank ; 2012Cities contribute an estimated 70 percent of the world's energy-related greenhouse gases (GHG). Their locations, often in low-elevation coastal zones, and large populations make them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. But cities often take steps, even ahead of national governments, to reduce GHG emissions. So it is with China's cities, which are well placed to chart a low-carbon growth path to help reach China's national targets for reducing the energy and carbon intensity of its economy. China's cities will need to act on multiple fronts, in some cases scaling up elements of existing good practice, in others changing established ways of doing business. Actions affecting land-use and spatial development are among the most critical to achieving low-carbon growth as carbon emissions are closely connected to urban form. Spatial development also has very strong 'lock-in' effects: once cities grow and define their urban form, it is almost impossible to retrofit them because the built environment is largely irreversible and very costly to modify. Furthermore, cities need energy-efficient buildings and industries. They need a transport system that offers alternatives to automobiles. They need to shift to efficient management of water, wastewater, and solid waste. And they need to incorporate responses to climate change in their planning, investment decisions, and emergency-preparedness plans.
Language(s): English; Other Languages: Chinese
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Environment and landscape ; Climate policies ; Greenhouse gas reducing ; Sustainable development ; China
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A cost effective solution to reduce disaster losses in developing countries : hydro-meteorological services, early warning, and evacuation
In Europe, it can be estimated that hydro-meteorological information and early warning systems save several hundreds of lives per year, avoid between 460 million and 2.7 billion Euros of disaster asset losses per year, and produce between 3.4 and 34 billion of additional benefits per year through the optimization of economic production in weather-sensitive sectors (agriculture, energy, etc.). The potential for similar benefits in the developing world is not only proportional to population, but also to increased hazard risk due to climate and geography, as well as increased exposure to weather ...
A cost effective solution to reduce disaster losses in developing countries : hydro-meteorological services, early warning, and evacuation
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Available online: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/05/0 [...]
Published by: World Bank ; 2012
In Europe, it can be estimated that hydro-meteorological information and early warning systems save several hundreds of lives per year, avoid between 460 million and 2.7 billion Euros of disaster asset losses per year, and produce between 3.4 and 34 billion of additional benefits per year through the optimization of economic production in weather-sensitive sectors (agriculture, energy, etc.). The potential for similar benefits in the developing world is not only proportional to population, but also to increased hazard risk due to climate and geography, as well as increased exposure to weather due to the state of infrastructure. This analysis estimates that the potential benefits from upgrading to developed-country standards the hydro-meteorological information production and early warning capacity in all developing countries include: (i) between 300 million and 2 billion USD per year of avoided asset losses due to natural disasters; (ii) an average of 23,000 saved lives per year, which is valued between 700 million and 3.5 billion USD per year using the Copenhagen Consensus guidelines; and (iii) between 3 and 30 billion USD per year of additional economic benefits. The total benefits would reach between 4 and 36 billion USD per year. Because some of the most expensive components of early warning systems have already been built (e.g., earth observation satellites, global weather forecasts), these investments are relatively modest, estimated here around 1 billion US per year, reaching benefit-cost ratios between 4 and 36.
Language(s): English
Format: Digital (Free)Tags: Capacity development ; Early warning systems ; Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) ; Weather service ; Water service ; Developing countries
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Helping to Better Manage the World’s Oceans : the World Bank and the Drive for ‘Blue Growth’
World Bank, 2012A healthy ocean is a valuable natural asset that, if maintained and nurtured, can provide ‘ecosystem services’ that contribute to economic expansion – or ‘blue growth’ – in developing coastal and island countries. World Bank investments in the oceans between 2007 and 2011 have supported developing coastal and island countries in improving the health of their ocean environments, enhancing the value of the ecosystem services they provide to the local and global economy. In particular, these investments supported countries to manage the transition to more sustainable fisheries, establish coastal ...
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Modeling the roles of heterogeneity, substitution, and inventories in the assessment of natural disaster economic costs
Based on an IO structure, the ARIO-inventory model simulates the economic consequences and responses to a natural disaster. It represents explicitly production bottlenecks, models a flexibility in production capacity in case of scarcity, and introduces inventories as an additional flexibility in the production system. Moreover, it takes into account the heterogeneity in goods and services within sectors, and the consequences on production bottlenecks and substitution possibilities. The model is applied to the landfall of hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Sensitivity analyses show that results ar ...
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Development and Climate Action: reinforcing Synergies
World Bank, 2012"The brief explains that all of the 17 country assistance and partnership strategies prepared in Fiscal Year 2011 address climate change. It also showcases results achieved in projects related to: forestry, which help sequester carbon and increase resilience; “climate smart” agriculture, where the focus is on a triple-win – carbon sequestration, food security and climate resilient livelihoods; and water efficiency measures in urban municipalities that reduce water and energy consumption and emissions from water pumping and distribution.
Results of projects dealing with sustainab ...
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Accessing economic and political impacts of Hydrological variability on treaties: case studies on the Zambezi and Mekong basins
The term 'green jobs' can refer to employment in a narrowly defined set of industries providing environmental services. But it is more useful for the policy-maker to focus on the broader issue of the employment consequences of policies to correct environmental externalities such as anthropogenic climate change. Most of the literature focuses on direct employment created, with more cursory treatment of indirect and induced job creation, especially that arising from macroeconomic effects of policies. The potential adverse impacts of green growth policies on labor productivity and the costs of em ...
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'Green' growth, 'green' jobs and labor markets
'Green' growth, 'green' jobs and labor markets (English)
ABSTRACT
The term 'green jobs' can refer to employment in a narrowly defined set of industries providing environmental services. But it is more useful for the policy-maker to focus on the broader issue of the employment consequences of policies to correct environmental externalities such as anthropogenic climate change. Most of the literature focuses on direct employment created, with more cursory treatment of indirect and induced job creation, especially that arising from macroeconomic effects of policies. The potential ad ...
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Cities and Flooding: a Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management for the 21st Century
World Bank, 2012Cities and Flooding: A Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management for the 21st Century provides forward-looking operational assistance to policy makers and technical specialists in the rapidly expanding cities and towns of the developing world on how best to manage the risk of floods. It takes a strategic approach, in which appropriate risk management measures are assessed, selected and integrated in a process that both informs and involves the full range of stakeholders.
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Fiscal implications of climate change
This paper provides a primer on the fiscal implications of climate change, in particular the policies for responding to it. Many of the complicated challenges that arise in limiting climate change (through greenhouse gas emissions mitigation), and in dealing with the effects that remain (through adaptation to climate change impacts), are of a fiscal nature. While mitigation has the potential to raise substantial public revenue (through charges on greenhouse gas emissions), adaptation largely leads to fiscal outlays. Policies may unduly favor public spending (on technological solutions to limit ...
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How economic growth and rational decisions can make disaster losses grow faster than wealth
Hallegatte Stéphane - World Bank, 2011Assuming that capital productivity is higher in areas at risk from natural hazards (such as coastal zones or flood plains), this paper shows that rapid development in these areas—and the resulting increase in disaster losses—may be the consequence of a rational and well-informed trade-off between lower disaster losses and higher productivity. With disasters possibly becoming less frequent but increasingly destructive in the future, average disaster losses may grow faster than wealth. Myopic expectations, lack of information, moral hazard, and externalities reinforce the likelihood of this scen ...
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The BioCarbon Fund Experience: insights from Afforestation/Reforestation Clean Development Mechanism Projects
The report is an effort to inform project developers and policy-makers about the main lessons learned by the BioCarbon Fund while accompanying the development of more than 20 A/R CDM forest projects in 16 countries since it started operations in 2004. It sheds light on opportunities the CDM offers to the forestry sector and also on the challenges encountered by project developers when complying with the regulatory requirements. The report concludes with recommendations for policy-makers on how current rules could be made more pragmatic to better match the realities of this type of projects on ...
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Agriculture and the clean development mechanism
Many experts believe that low-cost mitigation opportunities in agriculture are abundant and comparable in scale to those found in the energy sector. They are mostly located in developing countries and have to do with how land is used. By investing in projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), countries can tap these opportunities to meet their own Kyoto Protocol obligations. The CDM has been successful in financing some types of agricultural projects, including projects that capture methane or use agricultural by-products as an energy source. But agricultural land-use projects are s ...
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