Other ESW Reports
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Geospatial Capacity Assessment of the Commonwealth of Dominica
Dominica is a Small Island Developing State located in the Eastern Caribbean between Guadeloupe and Martinique. It is a volcanic island with mountainous terrain that includes nine potentially active volcanic centers. The island's location, geology, and topography make it susceptible to several hydrometeorological and seismic hazards, including hurricanes, floods, landslides, and earthquakes. Dominica has a population of approximately 73,000. The island’s economy is largely based on agriculture and tourism. Climate change is expected to persist as a significant developmental and existential challenge to Dominica and other small island states. Based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate change scenarios, Dominica is expected to be one of the countries most severely affected by climate change (per capita). The country has experienced increased frequency and severity of storms in recent years, keeping with climate change projections. One of the project's key activities is to assess geographic information system (GIS) user capacity in Dominica. This assessment identifies needs among the community of GIS users and highlights barriers related to institutional policies, technology, or expertise. It also highlights opportunities for capacity building, knowledge exchange, and cooperation among stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. In addition to this geospatial capacity assessment, the Digital Earth for a Resilient Caribbean team is providing technical assistance to the GoCD on various initiatives, including the definition of institutional arrangements for the establishment of a GIS Unit, the capture and analysis of data on Dominica’s building stock, and the identification of training needs.
Gender Assessment of São Tomé and PrÃncipe Tourism Sector
The assessment presents findings from comprehensive desk research, semi-structured interviews, and key informant interviews conducted in-person in São Tomé and PrÃncipe in September 2023. The report is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the methodology, including the assessment framework, data collection method and key stakeholders. Section 3 provides background on the country context and the status of gender equality in São Tomé and PrÃncipe. Section 4 presents a gender gap analysis in women’s employment, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Section 5 dives into the ecosystem and stakeholder assessment. Finally, Section 6 lists priority areas for women in tourism and provides recommendations to be considered in the context of the upcoming World Bank projects.
Disaster Risk Management and Gender: The Case of Jamaica
This country profile analyzes gender gaps in the disaster risk management (DRM) agenda in Jamaica that influence the exposure and vulnerability, preparedness, and coping capacity of different populations. Identified gender gaps need to be considered when preparing and implementing DRM policies, programs, and projects before, during, and after disasters strike to improve their effectiveness and equity.
Global Regulations, Institutional Development, and Market Authorities Perspective Toolkit (GRIDMAP) - Consumer Protection Module
The GRIDMAP, Global Regulations, Institutional Development and Market Authorities Perspective Consumer Protection Module, aims to develop consumer trust in markets by providing a toolkit to build fair, secure, and contestable markets that enable all consumers to make informed choices.
Assessing Technologies to Accelerate the Process of Monitoring, Reporting, and Verifying Emission Reductions Programs
This study explored the use of a state-of-the-art collection of high-quality in situ datasets, following best practices13 to inform biomass estimates derived through remote sensing. The intention was to circumvent (1) the challenge of extrapolating data coverage from plot-level to satellite-level (for example, for the entire ERP area) and (2) the limitations of using allometric equations to estimate biomass from national forest inventories. The ASA also explored a novel method of creating data synergies within a 50,000-hectare (ha) region of interest. It was expected that these processes would improve the accuracy and bias of estimates so they could be extrapolated to the larger ERP area with the support of colleagues from Sylvera.
Economic, Trade, and Industry Implications of the Circular Economy Transition in Türkiye
Economic and population growth over the past 50 years have increased global natural resource use to levels that severely affect human well-being. In Türkiye, as elsewhere, economic and population growth have been accompanied by increasing levels of material consumption and waste. The need to transition away from current linear resource use patterns is conceptualized and promoted within the circular economy (CE) concept. Türkiye recognizes that it must transition to a more circular and material-efficient growth model. Türkiye launched its zero-waste initiative in 2017, and the CE is flagged as a priority in the 2021 economic reform program. A successful CE transition in Türkiye will also help the European Union (EU) achieve its CE goals of enhancing material efficiency and reducing environmental impact. A significant portion of the EU’s material consumption and footprint is based on imports, with 11 percent of domestic material consumption and nearly 36 percent of the total footprint being imported. This report highlights the importance of a deliberate, strategic, and articulated approach toward transitioning the Turkish economy to a CE, blending immediate actionable steps with a forward-looking long-term strategy. By moving forward with flexibility and vision, Türkiye can use its distinct advantages to not only respond to the changing global economy but also to lead in sustainable innovation and resilience, establishing a model for others in the worldwide move toward a more circular and thriving future.
The Markets and Competition Policy Assessment Toolkit
The markets and competition policy assessment toolkit (MCPAT) is a guide for understanding how policy can positively shape markets and address market failures that ultimately affect micro- and macroeconomic development issues. The MCPAT aims to support policymakers, competition authorities, and development finance institutions in realizing the advantages of competitive and well-functioning markets by setting the right conditions for firms to improve their economic performance and for markets to allocate resources efficiently. Competitive and well-functioning markets do not just benefit consumers, - they benefit entire economies as they promote productivity, innovation, efficiency, and consumer choice. The goal is not simply to increase the number of firms in a market or to restrict market power but to create an environment where competition can thrive, firms can innovate, and markets can function optimally. The structure of this toolkit follows the steps to conduct an MCPAT analysis in a specific sector or market. Part I provides an overview of key concepts that set the basis for conducting the MCPAT analysis and covers the first step of the MCPAT. Part II focuses on diagnosing market issues. Part III is about how to fix markets.
Extreme Weather, Extreme Costs: Building Malawi’s Financial Resilience in a Changing Climate
Climate risk management in Malawi's financial sector is a pressing issue that demands immediate attention. Globally, the urgency of addressing climate change is escalating, and many African countries are taking proactive steps to mitigate its financial implications. Kenya, Tanzania, and Morocco, among others, have already implemented supervisory guidelines for climate risk management to safeguard their financial systems and economies. The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), recognizing the critical importance of this issue, has similarly initiated the development of climate risk supervisory guidelines for banks and are considering doing the same for the insurance sector. To inform these policy efforts, RBM, with the support of the World Bank, conducted this assessment to better understand the impacts of climate change on the insurance and banking sectors in Malawi. This report’s analysis is the first of its kind for Malawi, and one of the first climate-related financial risk analyses in the Africa region that looks at the impact of climate change on the insurance sector in addition to the banking sector. The ultimate objective of this report is to build a roadmap for RBM to better assess and manage climate-related financial risks for banks and insurers.
Türkiye’s Circular Economy Transition in the EU’s Global Value Chain Ecosystem
This report examines the transition of Turkish firms to align with circular economy (CE) principles, highlighting both immediate needs and the longer-term opportunities from engaging in a transition agenda. The report stresses that the changing landscape toward the CE in the European Union (EU) offers a significant strategic opportunity for Türkiye to strengthen its position in global markets and build resilience against economic shocks.
Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report
The Tracker report for 2024 comes as a global sense of urgency is taking hold. At the end of last year, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) again underscored the importance of transitioning away from unabated oil and gas. At the same time, oil and gas will continue to play a material role in the global energy system until at least 2050. This places the burden of responsibility on operators to ensure that oil and gas are produced as cleanly as possible during the energy transition. It is clear that routine gas flaring also continues to represent a lost opportunity to provide communities around the world with much-needed energy security and a cleaner source of power. This business-as-usual practice of pursuing oil production with little consideration for the potential use of associated gas is not just polluting, it is immensely wasteful. To support countries with the least resources and capacity to address greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, the World Bank has launched the Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership. GFMR builds on the legacy of the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership and broadens the scope to include providing support for gas flaring and methane emissions reduction along the entire oil and gas value chain.