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Publication Developing Insurance Markets: The Insurance Sector’s Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06) Holliday, Susan; Remizova, Inna; Stewart, FionaInsurance can play a significant role in helping countries achieve the UN SDGs in terms of economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. This can be achieved through the risk transfer mechanisms of households, businesses, and the public sector. The paper has a twofold purpose. First, to help regulators and insurance policymakers in emerging markets make the case for supporting insurance market development through drawing more attention to contribution the sector can make to achieving national SDGs. Secondly, to help investors, donors, international organizations focus their insurance market development efforts in countries where the sector has the maximum potential to contribute to the achievement of SDGs. This paper considers the role of insurance companies as underwriters facilitating risk transfer, as investors and asset managers and as corporate citizens and employers. The underwriting dimension is currently the most significant but all three have a role to play in supporting the SDGs. The paper also discusses how insurance can contribute more to these goals, including through targeted interventions in countries where conditions for right for insurance market development and SGD targets will need greater support to be met. Countries were screened for performance vs. the selected SDGs, by the potential for insurance sector development, as well as for minimum necessary enabling conditions for market growth. The paper concludes that the role of insurance has been somewhat overlooked in the context of the SDGs and that this is largely because the current indicators largely do not capture metrics relating to insurance. To be able to better assess the role of insurance and motivate the industry to contribute more to the SDGs, more consistent and disaggregated data collection on the following is recommended: lines of business; invested assets; gender disaggregated data. The UN, governments and the insurance industry are also encouraged to put greater emphasis on developing the sector as a means to achieving the SDGs.Publication Report on Possible Improvements on Management of Revenues from Auctioning of EU ETS Allowances and Use of Flexibility Mechanisms in Romania(Washington, DC, 2015-11) World BankThis report is on possible improvements on management of revenues from auctioning of European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) allowances and use of flexibility mechanisms in Romania. The principal objective of this report is to propose improvements on management of revenue from the auctioning of EU ETS allowances, as well as describe possible use of flexibility mechanisms in Romania, in order to mobilize and enable both public and private actors to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from economic activities in non EU ETS sectors in line with EU targets. The report focuses on possible actions in the timeframe 2016-2020, aligned with EU ETS phase and EU target for 2020 and 2030. The report is positioned amid the wider context of a vision for Romania to become a climate resilient, low-carbon economy, which has mainstreamed its climate policies and actions into smart, green, and inclusive growth, described in the National Climate Change and Low Carbon Green Growth Strategy for Romania 2016-2030 and 2015-2020 Climate Action Plan prepared by the World Bank for Romania. The report found that until now, there had been no clear and effective procedure for the administration of ETS auctioning revenue, and no selection and prioritization criteria. The lack of selection and prioritization criteria and guidance for using ETS auctioning revenue to finance GHG emission reduction projects allowed for the selection of projects without proper assessment in terms of their reduction of GHG emissions, as well as cost effectiveness and other important factors. In order to maximize the environmental, social, and economic impact of possible sectoral climate investment programs, and based on international experience, the World Bank’s expert team proposes to use the following criteria for prioritizing and selecting non-EU ETS sectoral programs to be financed with EU ETS auctioning revenue: (i) cost efficiency of Emissions Reduction; (ii) leverage of public money to private finance; (iii) possibility for rapid development and scale up; (iv) lack of other financing mechanisms; and (v)support for job creation. Based on these criteria, the report recommends supporting the following climate investment programs for the years 2016-2020:(a) replacing household light bulbs, air conditioning units, individual heating systems, refrigerators, and washing machines with more performant ones; (b) upgrading household buildings insulation; (iii) implementing local, small- and household-scale renewable energy production; and (iv) forestry and biomass production, and land use improvements. It was concluded that the proposed improvements on managing revenue from the auctioning of EU ETS allowances laid out in this report could be used by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, as a responsible body for climate policy, for internal discussions with other Romanian ministries and agencies to reach consensus on the next steps.