Other Environmental Study
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Publication
The Costs of Environmental Degradation from Plastic Pollution in Selected Coastal Areas in the United Republic of Tanzania: Technical Report
(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-03-16)Plastic waste negatively impacts ecosystems, public health, and local economies in Tanzania. For example, marine plastic and microplastic wastes contaminate beaches, sea grass areas and coral reef habitats, lower the quality of marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and endanger bird and marine wildlife through entanglement and the ingestion of plastics of different sizes. They also endanger human health through food chains. Valuation of the costs of environmental degradation (COED) from marine plastic pollution helps the country to understand the scale of the impacts and prioritize activities for mitigation of these impacts. This study developed the methodology to estimate the COED in the selected coastal areas in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. It is the first of its kind for valuing the impacts of marine plastic wastes on local economic sectors, public health, and marine ecosystems. The valuation results reveal that marine plastics pollution causes a net economic cost to the local economic activities, especially tourism, and the natural environment of study areas, and that in some areas costs can be quite significant. The analysis of the costs across study areas and sectors is useful for prioritizing marine plastic pollution management activities. -
Publication
Use of Auctions for Decommissioning Coal Power Globally
(Washington, DC, 2022-10-01)This report examines the potential use of auctions as a price discovery mechanism facilitating accelerated decommissioning of the global coal fleet. Despite widespread recognition of coal power’s significant negative impact on climate and health as well as the urgency of acting in response to climate change, the transition away from coal power has been slow. This report introduces the global coal power landscape presents arguments for decommissioning coal power, including the potential for savings, mitigation of climate impacts, improved health outcomes, and significant employment opportunities in clean energy. It also details the likely challenges inherent in the transition — the need to ensure reliability, insulation of coal generation from competitive forces, and impacts on workers and communities — that will need to be managed and addressed. The report concludes that coal power plant decommissioning is part of a multifaceted exercise in which auctions can play an important supporting role. The auction process, including the development of requirements and material obligations, requires a high degree of standardization. If designed well, it could allow for a coal transition mechanism to be allocated efficiently and transparently on a least-cost basis. -
Publication
Burkina Faso - Note Sectorielle sur les Forêts: Pour une Gestion Durable des Forêts du Burkina Faso
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-10)Les forets apportent une contribution essentielle au développement socioéconomique du Burkina Faso. Dans le même temps, moins de 1% du budget de l’État est consacré à la gestion des forêts. Le manque de financement - à la fois pour l’investissement et le fonctionnement - est l’un des principaux problèmes auxquels le secteur est confronté. En conséquence, les forêts disparaissent. Le Burkina Faso a perdu près de la moitié de ses forêts en 30 ans. Les actions prioritaires sont : (i) Accroître les revenus tirés des forêts ; (ii) Modifier la clé de répartition du prix de vente du stère de bois de feu entre les acteurs et augmenter la part destinée aux communes ; (iii) Augmenter les investissements publics destinés au secteur forestier et le budget qui lui est alloué ; (iv) Faire une plus grande place à la biomasse dans les politiques énergétiques ; (v) Utiliser les fonds carbone comme une opportunité de générer des recettes supplémentaires et (vi) Renforcer les capacités techniques des services forestiers. -
Publication
Bending the Pollution Curve: An Analysis and Prioritization of Pollution Management in Ethiopia
(World Bank, Washington DC, 2022-09-14)Pollution and environmental degradation often worsen as countries develop and industrialize. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis suggests that, initially, economic growth increases pollution up to a certain income threshold, and then it begins to decrease pollution. Pollution reduction is not inevitable, however. As one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, Ethiopia has been facing natural resource depletion and pollution problems which threaten to slow or impede development gains. The country must actively improve its pollution management practices and mitigate the impact of pollution on its economy, public health, and the natural environment as much as possible. This report aims to identify, diagnose, and evaluate air, water, and solid waste pollution issues facing Ethiopia and advise governments on developing and prioritizing pollution management interventions through a long-term perspective. It assesses the impacts of pollution problems and estimates the economic costs of pollution in selected study cities, which provide an economic basis for prioritizing and recommending pollution management interventions and programs. The report concludes that, with a good understanding and public awareness of pollution problems, strong political will, and sound strategies for pollution management, Ethiopia may bend the EKC and avoid the “pollute first, clean up later” development path that industrialized countries have taken—creating the chance for a cleaner environment, a healthier population, and a stronger and sustainable development progress. -
Publication
Climate Warehouse Simulation III, Final Report - September 2022
(Washington, DC, 2022-09)The Climate Warehouse is a public and open-source platform that aims to contribute to the integrity, transparency, and robust accounting of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs), in accordance with article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. More specifically, the Climate Warehouse is a peer-to-peer metadata layer that uses blockchain technology to harmonize carbon registry data under a common taxonomy and demonstrate interoperability among carbon registries, which is currently complicated by carbon registries’ usage of different data management systems and taxonomies. Simulation III was the final testing phase of the Climate Warehouse project. Launched in March 2022, Simulation III tested an operational prototype of the Climate Warehouse, which was delivered to the governing entity of the operational Climate Warehouse at the end of the simulation in August 2022. The Simulation III prototype had an updated data model and features that reflected the learnings from simulations I and II, and was open source, interoperable, and hosted on a public blockchain. The conclusion of Simulation III marked the beginning of the transition to the operational Climate Warehouse, expected to launch in October 2022. The Climate Warehouse is continuing to make progress on its aim to improve the environmental integrity, transparency, and robust accounting of ITMOs, under the leadership of the International Emissions Trading Association as the interim Secretariat, in close collaboration with the World Bank and the government of Singapore. -
Publication
Strengthening Hydromet and Multi-hazard Early Warning Services in Uzbekistan: A Road Map
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-08)The road map presents a potential pathway to strengthen Uzbekistan’s national hydrometeorological (hydromet) and multi-hazard early warning systems and services, based on the needs of the user community. It is based on a technical evaluation and assessment of the needs and capacities of Uzhydromet which, as the main service provider in Uzbekistan, issues meteorological and hydrological information, forecasts and warnings. This road map identifies gaps and challenges in the production and delivery of weather, climate, and hydrological information and services, and proposes a strategy for improving the country’s institutional capacity in support of saving lives, protecting property and livelihoods, and social and economic development -
Publication
Clean Air and Cool Planet, Volume II: Integrated Air Quality Management and Greenhouse Gas Reduction for Almaty and Nur-Sultan
(Washington, DC, 2022-07)The report synthesizes key findings and recommendations of a study carried out under the World Bank’s Advisory Services and Analytics Program, ‘Central Asia: Climate and Environment Program,’ which aims to strengthen the capacity of Central Asian countries to achieve sustainable and resilient economic growth. It builds on a previous World Bank report, which provided the first national-level approximation of primary sources of air pollution in Kazakhstan. This city-level study highlights how potential synergies between air quality improvement and greenhouse gas reduction measures can be enhanced in a cost-effective manner. To identify and maximize these synergies and assess the measures’ cost-effectiveness at the city level, the study developed two new extensions to the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model—GAINS-City and GAINS-Policy and applied them in Almaty and Nur-Sultan, two major cities in Kazakhstan, for the first time. The report delivers evidence of the main causes of premature deaths from air pollution in Almaty and Nur-Sultan and offers guidance on cost-effective solutions to prevent them while making the cities better prepared for a low-carbon future. It provides high-level roadmaps for the cities' integrated air quality management and climate change mitigation to maximize synergies and manage tradeoffs. It proposes sequencing of actions until 2030 to save lives from poor air quality while facilitating long-term phase out of fossil fuels. Moreover, the report analyzes the need for policy reforms to incentivize implementation of cost-effective integrated measures by private economic actors. The report recognizes that reprioritizing policy actions slightly to maximize climate benefits may require some additional air quality management actions to address the unacceptably high burden that exposure to PM2.5 currently places on public health. -
Publication
Shifting Tourism Demand:: Risk, Health, and Sustainability in the Age of COVID-19
(Washington, DC, 2022-07)COVID-19 created a dynamic shock to the international tourism industry, with the related health concerns and travel restrictions impacting travelers' perceptions of risk. Among the most affected economies were Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which are highly dependent on tourism receipts, have small domestic tourism markets, and rely on international air connectivity. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on tourists, and support destinations in their reopening processes, the World Bank undertook consumer market research on three key European outbound markets. -
Publication
Uzbekistan Country Forest Note: The State of Forests and Forest Landscapes in Uzbekistan
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-06-30)This Country Forest Note offers an in-depth picture of the forest sector of Uzbekistan, viewed through a forest landscape lens, and provides guidance to help define goals and identify opportunities for the continued development of the sector. Despite a large number of current challenges, forest landscape management presents opportunities for sustainable development: increasing the forest area will provide additional benefits in terms of climate change. A holistic approach to soil degradation is required that includes improved livestock husbandry, soil management, and agricultural practices, all of which have a role to play. Leskhozes have a central role in transforming the forest sector and augmenting their capacity and skills needs to be an important consideration. Equally important is to encourage community participation through mahallas and create favorable conditions for private sector involvement. Strong government commitment and institutional and stakeholder buy-in and ownership are required to support the transition to more adaptive management in forestry. This transition is critical to address climate change issues, increased threats to forests, soil and water conservation, economic management of wood and non-wood forest products (NWFPs) from forested landscapes, and improvement of livelihoods of rural households. -
Publication
Reducing Pandemic Risks at Source: Wildlife, Environment and One Health Foundations in East and South Asia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-06-29)The majority of human infectious diseases are of animal origin, and many recent emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), such as HIV/AIDS, the Nipah virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), highly pathogenic avian influenzas (HPAIs), and Ebola virus disease share a common feature: their wildlife origin. Wildlife-originated EIDs are also increasing in frequency over recent decades. As shown by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts of EIDs disproportionately affect the poor and other vulnerable groups, increasing inequality and threatening decades of development progress. The acceleration of EID events of epidemic and pandemic potential calls for a paradigm shift in how we manage and interact with our natural and built environments, while stressing the urgency to develop and implement comprehensive One Health approaches to achieve optimal health outcomes. Furthermore, it is important to recognize the interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environments. East and South Asia, renowned global hotspots for disease emergence, have suffered from and continue to experience major economic impacts from outbreaks. A team comprised of experts from the World Bank and FAO, and leading wildlife and One Health experts from around the world have worked together to analyze the causes. This report outlines the risks of EIDs of wildlife origin and proposes how to reduce emerging pandemic threats at their source; it includes background material, state-of-the-art knowledge, and recommendations for strengthening systems to prevent, detect, and manage EID outbreaks caused by wildlife trade, wildlife farming, food systems, and habitat degradation. Furthermore, it examines the scope of existing policy frameworks, institutional mandates, level of multisectoral engagement, investments, wildlife-health information systems, and capacity building related to wildlife in the context of emerging disease risks.