International News: Multilateral Development Banks Release Joint Report on Climate Change Finance (11 Nov 2014)

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Multilateral Development Banks Release Joint Report on Climate Change Finance

November 2013: According to the 'Joint Report on MDB Climate Finance 2012,' the multilateral development banks (MDBs) spent nearly US$27 billion to address climate change during the 2012 fiscal year, with over US$21 billion dedicated to mitigation and almost US$6 billion to adaptation. From these resources, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) have contributed to US$2 billion.

Among the highlights, the report presents a summary of regional coverage of investments, noting that Latin America and the Caribbean have received 18 per cent of total funds, the highest share of MDB climate finance. It shows that renewable energy has received the largest share of mitigation finance, totaling 36 per cent, and underscores the MDBs' commitments to improve transparency of their investments and the goal to include better regional and sectoral level information in the future. The study also discusses key elements of methodological issues in order to avoid double-accounting.

Authors of the report include members from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

read more: http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/multilateral-development-banks-release-joint-report-on-climate-change-finance/223158/

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Publications: World Bank Report Identifies Ways to Reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants (3 Sep 2013)

World Bank Report Identifies Ways to Reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants

3 September 2013: The World Bank has released a report, titled 'Integration of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants in World Bank Activities,' which highlights that the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP), including black carbon, methane and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), brings immediate benefits for health, agriculture and climate change mitigation.

Following a request of the G-8, the report was released on the occasion of the Ministerial High Level Assembly for The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC), which took place in Oslo, Norway, on 3 September 2013.

The report identifies ways for the World Bank to further reduce the emission of SLCPs through its projects. It provides an overview of ways the Bank's investments are already reducing SLCPs and shows where potential exists for greater reduction. The SLCP-reducing activities addressed in the report include: bus and rail-based transport systems, which can reduce black carbon emissions and bring local public health co-benefits; solid waste collection and disposal methods that can reduce methane emissions; improved cookstoves and kilns that can reduce black carbon; and rice irrigation and wastewater management that can lower methane emissions and have global benefits to agricultural productivity and health.

The report indicates that over the six-year period of the review (FY2007–2012), 7.7% of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)/International Development Association (IDA) commitments (approximately US$18 billion) were on SLCP-relevant activities, and that going forward, the goal will be to transform as much of the SLCP-relevant activities as possible into SLCP-reducing activities. 

[Publication: Integration of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants in World Bank Activities] [World Bank Press Release] [Climate and Clear Air Coalition Website]

For more information: 
http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/world-bank-report-identifies-ways-to-reduce-short-lived-climate-pollutants/213451/

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Publications: The Little Green Data Book 2013 by World Bank (8 Jul 2013)

The Little Green Data Book 2013

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“World Bank. 2013. The Little Green Data Book 2013. © Washington, DC. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/14396 License: CC BY 3.0 Unported.”

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14396

Date: 2013-07-08

Author(s): World Bank

Abstract:

The Little Green Data Book is a pocket-sized ready reference on key environmental data for over 200 countries. Key indicators are organized under the headings of agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, oceans, energy, emission and pollution, and water and sanitation. The 2013 edition of The Little Green Data Book introduces a new set of ocean-related indicators, highlighting the role of oceans in economic development.

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For more information: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/14396

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Publications: Turn Down the Heat : Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience by World Bank (19 Jun 2013)

Turn Down the Heat : Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience

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“Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. 2013. Turn Down the Heat : Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience. © Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/14000 License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.”

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14000

Date: 2013-06-19

Author(s): Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics

Abstract:

A Report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Analytics. This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2°C and 4°C warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability. It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and that as warming increases from present day (0.8°C) to 2°C and 4°C, multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest and most vulnerable. The report finds that agricultural yields will be affected across the three regions, with repercussions for food security, economic growth, and poverty reduction. In addition, urban areas have been identified as new clusters of vulnerability with urban dwellers, particularly the urban poor, facing significant vulnerability to climate change. In Sub-Saharan Africa, under 3°C global warming, savannas are projected to decrease from their current levels to approximately one-seventh of total land area and threaten pastoral livelihoods. Under 4°C warming, total hyper-arid and arid areas are projected to expand by 10 percent. In South East Asia, under 2°C warming, heat extremes that are virtually absent today would cover nearly 60-70 percent of total land area in northern-hemisphere summer, adversely impacting ecosystems. Under 4°C warming, rural populations would face mounting pressures from sea-level rise, increased tropical cyclone intensity, storm surges, saltwater intrusions, and loss of marine ecosystem services. In South Asia, the potential sudden onset of disturbances to the monsoon system and rising peak temperatures would put water and food resources at severe risk. Well before 2°C warming occurs, substantial reductions in the frequency of low snow years is projected to cause substantial reductions in dry season flow, threatening agriculture. Many of the worst climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2°C, but the window for action is closing rapidly. Urgent action is also needed to build resilience to a rapidly warming world that will pose significant risks to agriculture, water resources, coastal infrastructure, and human health.

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World Bank: World's poorest will feel brunt of climate change (19 Jun 2013)

World's poorest will feel brunt of climate change, warns World Bank

Droughts, floods, sea-level rises and fiercer storms likely to undermine progress in developing world and hit food supply
Wednesday 19 June 2013 08.23 BSTguardian.co.uk,

Pakistan says the 2010 floods has affected about 20 million people, many of whom lost homes or livelihoods. Photograph: Warrick Page/Getty Images for UN

Millions of people around the world are likely to be pushed back into poverty because climate change is undermining economic development in poor countries, the World Bank has warned.

Droughts, floods, heatwaves, sea-level rises and fiercer storms are likely to accompany increasing global warming and will cause severe hardship in areas that are already poor or were emerging from poverty, the bank said in a report.

Food shortages will be among the first consequences within just two decades, along with damage to cities from fiercer storms and migration as people try to escape the effects.

In sub-Saharan Africa, increasing droughts and excessive heat are likely to mean that within about 20 years the staple crop maize will no longer thrive in about 40% of current farmland. In other parts of the region rising temperatures will kill or degrade swaths of the savanna used to graze livestock, according to the report, Turn down the heat: climate extremes, regional impacts and the case for resilience.

In south-east Asia, events such as the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010, which affected 20 million people, could become commonplace, while changes to the monsoon could bring severe hardship to Indian farmers.

Warming of at least 2C (36F) – regarded by scientists as the limit of safety beyond which changes to the climate are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible – is all but inevitable on current levels, and the efforts of governments are limited to trying to prevent temperature rises passing over this threshold. But many parts of the world are already experiencing severe challenges as a result of climate change, according to the World Bank, and this will intensify as temperatures rise.

Jim Yong Kim, the bank's president, warned that climate change should not be seen as a future problem that could be put off: "The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heatwaves, and more intense cyclones.

"In the near-term, climate change – which is already unfolding – could batter the slums even more and greatly harm the lives and hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the Earth's temperature."

The development bank is stepping up its funding for countries to adapt to the effects of climate change, and is calling for rich countries to make greater efforts at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

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Publication: Capacity Assessment and Awareness Raising on Climate Change in Tajikistan by Livia Bizikova, World Bank, UNDP Tajikistan, 2012 (19 Dec 2012)

Capacity Assessment and Awareness Raising on Climate Change in Tajikistan

» Livia Bizikova, World Bank, UNDP Tajikistan, 2012.Paper, 74 pages, copyright: UNDP TajikistanThe present Participatory Scenario Development (PSD) report was commissioned as one of the outputs of Phase I of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resiliency (PPCR) in Tajikistan. 

The primary task of the present report is to present the findings on capacity building and awareness raising on climate change in Tajikistan using the PSD approach, which aimed to identify priorities, development trends and gaps of key stakeholders in adaptive capacity, propose recommendations and thus complement the priority components identified in the Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience (SPCR). 

The results of the report are mainly based on the views and proposals of the participants of PSD training sessions, which covered the main regions of Tajikistan.

The begining of the Executive Summary

The development of strategies to adapt to climate change has evolved into a multidisciplinary approach that links natural and social science, policy-makers, experts and non-experts, and traditional and scientific knowledge. There are many challenges in designing adaptations among somany stakeholders while trying to make sure the adaptations not only respond to the projected impacts of climate change but also promote long-term resilience in conjunction with other development measures. To address these challenges, researchers and practitioners suggested participatory scenario development (PSD) approaches, which were successfully tested in a number of countries in the context of climate change adaptation. PSD is applied in the multistakeholder context to help anticipate and understand the consequences of climate change in the context of plausible socioeconomic futures, and then to identify well-suited adaptations that will reduce risk and increase resilience over different time horizons.

Tajikistan is one of the most vulnerable countries in Central Asia, with many development challenges dating back to the centrally planned Soviet system, as well as additional challenges experienced during the transition process. The population suffers from both relatively high sensitivity to potential climate change impacts and low adaptive capacity compared with other countries in the region (World Bank, 2009). To address some of these challenges in the context of climate change, Tajikistan is one of the countries in which the Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) will be implemented. The program will include six investment and capacity building activities, totalling $50 million plus additional co-financing, with a focus on building capacity for climate resilience (improving service delivery related to weather, climate and hydrological issues); a climate science and modelling program to enhance the climate resilience of the energy sector; agriculture and sustainable land management; and building climate resilience in the Pyanj River basin.

Link to the publication: http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2012/capacity_assessment_climate_tajikistan.pdf

Source: http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1726

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Events: Transforming Transportation 2013 by World Bank and the World Resources Institute's (WRI) sustainable transport center, EMBARQ (17-18 Jan 2013)

Transforming Transportation 2013

The World Bank and the World Resources Institute's (WRI) sustainable transport center, EMBARQ, will co-host the 10th annual "Transforming Transportation" event on sustainable transport. The 2013 agenda will discuss, inter alia: capitalizing on the multilateral development banks’ $175 billion commitment for sustainable transport made during Rio+20; opportunities for sustainable transport in China, India and Latin America; integrating urban transport and development; improving transport health and safety in cities; and bringing shared bicycle solutions to scale in developing countries.  

dates:17-18 January 2013  venue:World Bank  location:Washington (District of Columbia), United States of America  contact:Camilo Rodriguez, WRI  phone: +1-202-729-7769  e-mail:cramirez@wri.org www:http://www.embarq.org/en/transforming-transportation-2013

For more information: http://climate-l.iisd.org/events/transforming-transportation-2013/

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Publication: World Bank: Planning for a low carbon future (English)

World Bank: Planning for a low carbon future (English)

ABSTRACT

Developing countries are faced with the dual challenge of reducing poverty while improving management of natural capital and mitigating the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and local pollutants. The challenge is particularly acute for large, rapidly growing economies, such as India, China, and Brazil. In response to this challenge, Energy Sector Management assistance Program (ESMAP) and the World Bank began in 2007 to provide support to countries to develop long term frameworks for reducing GHG emissions in a way that is compatible with economic growth objectives and tied to national and sectoral plans. In total, seven studies were conducted between 2007 and 2010, for the following countries: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, and South Africa. This report collates the lessons learned from these studies and is intended as a practical guide for government officials, practitioners, and development agencies involved in low carbon development planning. The low carbon studies were tailored to the individual needs of each country involved. In Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Poland the studies took the form of an economy-wide analysis of low carbon growth potential, employing a range of data and modeling tools. The governments of China and South Africa conducted their own analyses, but requested the assistance of ESMAP and the World Bank for peer review and to get international expertise on specific focus areas, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy. The combined outputs, and the modeling tools developed as part of the program, represent a significant contribution to international efforts on climate change mitigation and low carbon development.

DETAILS

• Document Date2012/11/01
• Document TypeESMAP Paper
• Report Number73508
• Volume No1 of 1
• CountryWorld; 
• RegionThe World Region; 
• Disclosure Date2012/07/11
• Doc NamePlanning for a low carbon future
• Keywords
  absolute emissions, accessibility, afforestation, air, air conditioning, allocation, annual emissions, approach, availability, benefit analysis, biogas, biomass, bus,...  See More +
• LanguageEnglish
• TopicsEnvironment;  Transport; Macroeconomics and Economic Growth;  Energy; 
• SubTopicsEnvironmental Economics & Policies;  Energy Production and Transportation;  Transport Economics Policy & Planning; Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases;  Climate Change Economics; 
• Unit OwningEnergy Sectr Mngmt Assist Progrm (SEGES)
• Collection TitleEnergy Sector Management assistance Program (ESMAP) ; knowledge series 011/12

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COMPLETE REPORT IN ENGLISH

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• Official PDF, 72 pages 5.04 mb
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*The text version is uncorrected OCR text and is included solely to benefit users with slow connectivity.

CITATION

World Bank. 2012. Planning for a low carbon future. Energy Sector Management assistance Program (ESMAP) ; knowledge series 011/12. Washington D.C. - The Worldbank. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/11/16928996/planning-low-carbon-future

For more information: 
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/11/16928996/planning-low-carbon-future#

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APN: Invitation to Webinar: Green Economy in a Blue World (Session 3)

Invitation to Webinar: Green Economy in a Blue World (Session 3)

 

To promote dialogue, and share knowledge and experiences on coastal and marine ecosystem-based economic development, The World Bank and GRID-Arendal are collaborating in delivery of a series of interactive video conference seminars on the theme of a Green Economy in a Blue World. The seminars highlight opportunities and discuss innovative regional experiences on how coastal and marine ecosystem-based economic development can be managed to support a green economy in East Asia and the Pacific.

Session 3 in the series will focus on offshore marine resources, primarily seabed mineral deposits and fisheries. As technology improves, opportunities for resource harvesting and rents to countries increase, along with social and environmental risks associated with extraction and benefit distribution. Fishing and mineral extraction both present potential sources of sustainable growth for coastal economies. However, managing these offshore resources also poses tremendous governance, environmental, technical and social–economic challenges.


Date: 30 November 2012
Time: 11:00-14:00 Japan Standard Time
Link: http://www.jointokyo.org/en/programs/catalogue/GEBW_S3/

Local contacts for RSVP and questions

Vietnam (Hanoi)
Hang thu Doan, Hdoan@worldbank.org
Vietnam Development Information Center (VDIC),
World Bank Hanoi, Tel:+84-4-39378706

Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City)
Ha Ngoc Nguyen, hanguyen@hdlc.org.vn
Ho Chi Minh City Development Learning Center
178 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, District 3, HCMC
Tel: +84 8 3930 1813

Philippines (Manila)
Giovanni Candelaria, Gcandelaria@aim.edu
Asian Institute for Management GDLN Center,
123 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, 1260 Manila City
Tel: +63 2 89 24 011 (x119)

Philippines (Dumaguete)
Ruel Yu, kdc@su.edu.ph; Silliman University Knowledge Development Center
Robert B. and Metta J. Silliman Library, 6200, Dumaguete City
Tel: +6335 4226002 ext 517

Japan (Tokyo)
Takiko Koyama, jointokyo@worldbank.org
Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC)
World Bank Japan, +81 3 3597 1333

Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)
Kate Uvia, kuvia@worldbank.org
World Bank Office, Level 13, Deloitte Tower, Port Moresby. Tel: +675 321 7111 (x114)

Solomon Islands (Honiara)
Caroline Bokabule, cbokabule@worldbank.org
World Bank Office, Mud Alley, Honiara
Tel+6777 21 444

Fiji (Suva)
Farzeen Khan, farzeen.khan@undp.org
UNDP – Pacific Centre, Tel: +679 3300399
Level 7 Kadavu House, 414 Victoria Parade

Samoa (Apia)
Sefanaia Nawadra , sefanaian@sprep.org
Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) PO Box 240, Apia. Tel: +685 21929

For more information: Green Economy in a Blue World Session 3 – Brochure- Final

More information about the event:  http://www.apn-gcr.org/2012/11/02/invitation-to-webinar-green-economy-in-a-blue-world-session-3/

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