Environment Department Papers

52 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18025

These discussion papers are produced primarily by the Environment Department, on occasion jointly with other departments. Papers in this series are not formal publications of the World Bank. They are circulated to encourage thought and discussion. The use and citation of this paper should take this into account. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank.

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Analysis of Community Forest Management in Madagascar

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-09-24) World Bank Group

The major role tropical forests play in biodiversity and climate change has led the world to search for effective ways to slow down deforestation. Community forest management (CFM) is an example of the broader concept of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM). As part of the decentralization policy in many countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, CFM was expected to promote: (i) a more effective stewardship of the resources by involving the local communities in the management of the resources, and (ii) a more locally-driven development with them tapping most of the derived benefits. The precursors of CBNRM and CFM in Madagascar are the centrally-led compensation-based mechanisms to conservation. Madagascar is one of the first countries in the southern hemisphere to have put in place a legal framework for CBNRM and CFM. The CBNRM implementation process starts with the creation of a local natural resources management group. The government has identified the protection of natural capital and the harnessing of its value as a key pillar in its national development plan for 2015-2019. The plan identifies poor governance as a major constraint to achieving the country’s development objectives. It puts strong emphasis on the roles of both natural capital and the necessity for a more inclusive economy to achieve sustainable development. This report will help the Bank take stock of the nearly two-decades of implementation of the national environmental action plan and provide nation-wide facts that will inform future investment in renewable natural resources management, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction, and local development in the future. The present work is targeted to decision makers and stakeholders involved in CFM policy with the objective of taking stock of almost 20 years of implementation and advise on future directions in policy formulation. The report is organized as follows: section one presents community forest management (CFM) in Madagascar. Section two provides the result of an impact evaluation analysis conducted on the application of CFM policy. Section three provides an analysis of the legal and institutional aspects of the application of CFM policy in Madagascar. Section four presents recommendations for the short, medium, and longer term. Section five concludes.
Clean Air and Healthy Lungs : Enhancing the World Bank's Approach to Air Quality Management

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-02) Awe, Yewande ; Nygard, Jostein ; Larssen, Steinar ; Lee, Heejoo ; Dulal, Hari ; Kanakia, Rahul

This report specifically deals with air pollution, which was reported, by the World Health Organization (WHO), as the single largest environmental health risk globally in 2012 (WHO, 2014a). Air pollution from outdoor and household sources jointly account for more than 7 million deaths (3.7 million from ambient air pollution and 4.3 million from household air pollution). The following sections of this chapter present the objectives of, and key aspects of the institutional context for, this report followed by an examination of some of the major drivers of deteriorating ambient air quality in developing countries; air pollution sources and impacts; and the status of air quality management in developing countries. Chapter two presents the results of a desk-based portfolio review of World Bank projects that are relevant to reduction of air pollution. This is followed, in chapter three, by an examination of case studies of World Bank projects whose objectives include addressing ambient air pollution, highlighting good practices and lessons for future work of the Bank in supporting clients. Chapter four presents possible approaches for enhancing future Bank support in helping clients to improve air quality and reduce the associated adverse health outcomes. Chapter five presents overall conclusions and recommendations.
Investing in Natural Capital for Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity : A Biodiversity Roadmap for the WBG

(Washington, DC, 2014-06) World Bank Group

The World Bank Group (WBG) has a long experience in engaging in biodiversity with world-class expertise in the field. It has been the single largest funder of biodiversity investments since the late 1980s. The WBG investments have largely been of two kinds: (1) investments in biodiversity, aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of species, habitats, and ecosystems that sustain healthy ecosystems, while enhancing people's livelihoods and safety nets. These investments have also been providing jobs and economic development in frequently impoverished rural areas for example by supporting protected areas and an increasingly important tourism industry; and (2) investments that add value to projects in other sectors, such as irrigation, hydropower, and infrastructure, by increasing their environmental sustainability. The WBG is a global center of excellence that provides economy wide technical and economic knowledge and expertise on biodiversity and ecosystems. It has the standing and convening power to facilitate participatory dialogue between client countries and networks of other relevant stakeholders on matters of biodiversity and climate change concern, such as loss of ecosystem resilience, forest law enforcement and governance, wildlife trade, and overexploitation of natural resources.
Watershed Development in India : An Approach Evolving through Experience

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-03) Symle, Jim ; Lobo, Crispino ; Milne, Grant ; Williams, Melissa

This report analyses the experiences and lessons from three World Bank-Supported watershed development projects in the Indian states of Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.5 The primary reason for the analysis was to guide the development and execution of new watershed programs in India, including new Bank-supported state-level operations in Uttarakhand and Karnataka, and a proposed national project now under preparation. Accordingly, it was important to deepen the knowledge base about large-scale, community-led watershed development in order to share that knowledge with key stakeholders both inside and outside of the World Bank. Another important reason was the immediate and growing concern over water resources and their management in India and the question of how well watershed development programs internalize these concerns. A third impetus was the nexus between rural poverty and rainfed agriculture and the important role that watershed development programs are to fulfill in the development of sustainable rural livelihoods.
What is the Cost of a Bowl of Rice? : The Impact of Sri Lanka's Current Trade and Price Policies on the Incentive Framework for Agriculture

(Washington, DC, 2013-10-01) World Bank

Since 2004, Sri Lanka has pursued inward looking policies that have encouraged import substitution, especially with respect to agricultural commodities. This report provides empirical evidence to inform the policy dialogue over the impact of current trade and price policies on the incentive framework for agriculture in Sri Lanka. This analysis provides a quantitative assessments of: (1) the level of support to farmers producing import-competing products; (2) the degree to which final consumers are indirectly taxed by those policies; (3) the extent to which agricultural exports are taxed; (4) the contribution of trade policy to government revenue through tariffs on imports and taxes on exports; (5) an evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the current fertilizer subsidy scheme; and (6) a better understanding of the web of income transfers between producers, consumers, and government accounts. The report is structured as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two gives overview of the current (2009-11) import and export policy framework and a brief analysis of government revenues and expenditures for agriculture. Section three reviews the data sources and methods used in calculating the degree of protection, and summary statistics on the degree of protection for 10 agricultural commodities. Section four looks closely at the cost-effectiveness of fertilizer subsidies, which represent a large share of the government agriculture budget. Section five focuses on how agricultural trade policies influence income distribution, particularly among different groups of rice producers. The last section recapitulates the main findings and highlights their implications, with an emphasis on the often implicit and unintended income transfers among producers, consumers, and the government.
Climate Change and Agriculture : A Review of Impacts and Adaptations

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-06) Kurukulasuriya, Pradeep ; Rosenthal, Shane

The vulnerability of the agricultural sector to both climate change and variability is well established in the literature. The general consensus is that changes in temperature and precipitation will result in changes in land and water regimes that will subsequently affect agricultural productivity. Research has also shown that specifically in tropical regions, with many of the poorest countries, impacts on agricultural productivity are expected to be particularly harmful. The vulnerability of these countries is also especially likely to be acute in light of technological, resource, and institutional constraints. Although estimates suggest that global food production is likely to be robust, experts predict tropical regions will see both a reduction in agricultural yields and a rise in poverty levels as livelihood opportunities for many engaged in the agricultural sector become increasingly susceptible to expected climate pressures
The Status and Impact of Bio Safety Regulation in Developing Economies Since Ratification of the Cartagena Protocol

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-06) McLean, Morven ; Foley, Mary-Ellen ; Pehu, Eija

The World development report 2010: development and climate change highlights the link between biotechnology, development, and environment. Aside from recognizing biotechnology's potential to improve crop productivity, increase crop adaptation to climatic stresses such as drought, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the report emphasizes the need to establish science-based regulatory systems 'so that risks and benefits can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, comparing the potential risks with alternative technologies' (World Bank 2010). This paper explores how the Cartagena protocol to the convention on biological diversity, as well as other important drivers, have affected the regulation of Genetically engineered (GE) crops in developing countries. It examines the impact of biosafety regulation on research and development of GE crops and on product approvals. Finally, it identifies opportunities to advance biosafety regulation in those developing countries that wish to access the potential benefits of agricultural biotechnology. As is true for capacity development in other regulatory arenas, progress in biosafety regulation in developing countries is often impeded by limited political and financial commitments from national governments and by insufficient technical, human resource, and institutional capacity for implementation. It is also confounded by competing or redundant capacity building projects and the absence of products to regulate.
Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Climate Change : The Economic Problem

(Washington, DC, 2010-11) World Bank

Climate change is both a cause and an effect of biodiversity change. Along with anthropogenic dispersion, climate change is the main driver of change in the geographical distribution of both beneficial and harmful species, crops, livestock, harvested wild species, pests, predators and pathogens. And the capacity of ecosystems to adapt to climate change depends on the diversity of species they currently support. This paper considers the connection between climate, biodiversity and ecosystem services. The impact of climate change on human wellbeing is measured by the change in ecosystem services caused by climate related change in biodiversity. Similarly, the role of species richness and abundance in climate change mitigation or adaptation is measured by the change in the climate-related services of biodiversity. The categories of ecosystem services are those applied in the millennium ecosystem assessment. The paper first considers how climate and biodiversity have been linked in recent attempts to link the two things. From the side of the natural sciences, this covers the consequences of climate change for various dimensions of biodiversity. From the side of the social sciences, it covers the value of biodiversity in the carbon cycle. It then uses insights from the economic treatment of the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem services to re-evaluate the connection between biodiversity and climate change, and to draw conclusions for climate policy.
Mainstreaming Environment and Climate Change in the Implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06) Griebenow, Gonzalo ; Kishore, Sunanda

Poverty reduction strategies (PRSs) provide a central framework for macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in developing countries. Because of the numerous and complex links between environment and poverty, it is important that environmental issues are taken into account in the PRS process. This paper follows six previous assessments of the degree of mainstreaming environment in the PRS process using a similar methodology to present trends and provide an understanding of the effectiveness of environmental interventions in reducing poverty. However, it goes beyond previous assessments in three important ways. In-depth country case studies of the evolution of environmental mainstreaming in the PRS process over time. Many countries have now gone through several iterations of their poverty reduction strategies and have received a sequence of credits designed to implement key aspects of these strategies, making it possible to see how the process of mainstreaming environment in the strategies has evolved over time. In this assessment, the authors conduct detailed case studies of this evolution in Ghana, Albania, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. The choice of countries was based on the maturity of each country's PRS process, taking into consideration country size, lending volume, and vulnerability to climate change. An assessment of climate change mainstreaming in the PRS process in the same four countries. Like environment as a whole, the potential impacts of climate change have often been considered separately, if at all rather than as an integral part of development policies. An evaluation of environmental development policy loans (DPLs) in several middle income countries (Brazil, Gabon, and Mexico). DPLs represent an important opportunity to mainstream environment and climate change into middle-income countries' growth and development. This review assesses the process by which environmental DPLs have been prepared and the effectiveness with which they have been implemented.
Environmental Flows in Water Resources Policies, Plans, and Projects : Case Studies

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-04) Hirji, Rafik ; Davis, Richard

The overall goal of this report and the accompanying report summarizing the findings and recommendations, both based on the economic and sector work (ESW), is to advance the understanding and integration in operational terms of environmental water allocation into integrated water resources management. The specific objectives of the reports are the following: 1) document the changing understanding of environmental flows, both by water resources practitioners and by environmental experts within the Bank and in borrowing countries; 2) draw lessons from experience in implementing environmental flows by the Bank, other international development organizations with experience in this area, and a small number of developed and developing countries; 3) develop an analytical framework to support more effective integration of environmental flow considerations for informing and guiding: (a) the planning, design, and operations decision making of water resources infrastructure projects; (b) the legal, policy, institutional, and capacity development related to environmental flows; and (c) restoration programs; and 4) provide recommendations for improvements in technical guidance to better incorporate environmental flow considerations into the preparation and implementation of lending operations.