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2024-10-29, World Bank

This is the second edition of the Economic Update for Equatorial Guinea. This World Bank report presents recent economic developments in Equatorial Guinea, the medium-term economic outlook and risks as well as structural challenges (Chapter 1), followed by a detailed exploration of a specific topic (Chapter 2). This edition focuses on fiscal instruments for sustainable forestry, examining the current socio-economic context of forest policy in Equatorial Guinea. In particular, it discusses the role and current use of forest-related fiscal instruments, and proposes options and trade-offs in the design of forest related fiscal policy reforms to adequately capture resource rents, promote forest based value-addition and employment, mitigate deforestation and forest degradation. The objectives of the Equatorial Guinea Economic Update are to: (i) strengthen the analytical underpinnings of the policy dialogue; and (ii) contribute to an informed debate on policy options to enhance macroeconomic management and development outcomes.

2022-11, World Bank Group

The Peru Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) provides analysis and recommendations on integrating the country’s efforts to achieve economic development with the pursuit of emission reduction and climate resilience. The CCDR explores opportunities and trade-offs for aligning Peru’s development path with its recent commitments on climate change. Peru is highly vulnerable to climate change and needs urgent adaptation action. Peru can benefit from decarbonization policies, thanks to its mining, forestry and agriculture, and renewable energy resources. Peru has many opportunities to develop and implement comprehensive climate policies that also increase productivity and reduce poverty. A low-carbon, resilient development for Peru would require substantial institutional reforms, in addition to public and private investments.

2022, World Bank Group

In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) the rapidly changing climate is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather‑related events. The year 2020 saw the most catastrophic fire season over the Pantanal region and a record number of storms during the Atlantic cyclone season. Eta and Iota, two category 4 hurricanes, affected more than 8 million people in Central America, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage. In Honduras, annual average losses due to climate‑related shocks are estimated at 2.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In rankings of the impacts of extreme weather events from 2000 to 2019, five Caribbean nations figure among the top 20 globally in terms of fatalities per capita, while in terms of economic losses as a share of GDP eight of the top 20 countries are in the Caribbean. Extreme precipitation events, which result in floods and landslides, are projected to intensify in magnitude and frequency due to climate change, with a 1.5°C increase in mean global temperature projected to result in an increase of up to 200 percent in the population affected by floods in Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina; 300 percent in Ecuador; and 400 percent in Peru. Climate shocks reduce the income of the poorest 40 percent by more than double the average of the LAC population and could push an estimated 2.4–5.8 million people in the region into extreme poverty by 2030.

2021-06-13, Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed talks with G7 leaders about the World Bank Group’s work on health and preparedness. The World Bank will have approved vaccination programs in over 50 countries by the end of June. He talked about the Bank’s joint work with the African Union’s Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) vaccination program. The Bank is convening a task force with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organization (WTO), and World Health Organization (WHO) to help track supplies, coordinate delivery, and accelerate deployment. He noted he would talk with G7 Leaders about the World Bank Group’s work on climate, nature-based solutions, and biodiversity.

2024-10-22, World Bank

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) Update assesses the evolution of Panama’s development challenges and policy priorities since the publication of the SCD in 2015. During the last eight years, Panama has experienced three major changes in its economic and social landscape: (i) economic growth, though still high, has structurally slowed down, affecting job creation and employment quality; (ii) human capital formation has not improved substantially, and the country is struggling to address the significant deterioration in education and health indicators that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and (iii) the government has demonstrated an increasingly acute awareness of the country’s vulnerability to climate change. In addition, Panama’s income per capita had the highest level of convergence within the region, reflecting its strong economic performance over the last three decades. However, the country’s remarkable gains in per capita income have not been accompanied by a commensurate improvement in economic inclusion and institutional quality. In this context, the SCD Update begins by providing an overview of Panama’s recent growth dynamics and poverty trends, before analyzing the country’s development challenges and discussing key policy priorities for achieving sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth.

2022-11, World Bank Group

The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.

2021-07-11, Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the devastating economic losses. The World Bank Group is providing maximum support to developing economies to respond to the crisis, and working to help them recover in ways that will be sustainable, greener and more prosperous. The Bank Group financing is aligning with the Paris Agreement goals. The Group will help client countries in their efforts to develop and implement their Nationally Determined Contributions and Long-Term Strategies. The Group is enhancing core analytical products such as the recently launched Country Climate and Development Reports and a facility on climate-informed Public Expenditure Reviews. He expressed the need for diagnostics, and a data-driven approach to help prioritize action. There is also need for a parallel effort to protect our natural capital and biodiversity, so that solutions work for people and the planet. IFC and MIGA that are mobilizing private sector financing and helping companies lower their emissions.

2024-05-08, Tisei, Francesco, Ed, Malin

The report is structured around four chapters and begins by offering a comprehensive overview of the region's climate and disaster risk profile in Chapter 1. This is followed by chapter 2 which provides a snapshot of the status of social protection systems in the region. Chapter 3 conducts a detailed analysis of the World Bank's stress test assessments in the LAC region, showcasing good practices and overarching weaknesses categorized according to the building blocks of the Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) framework. Building on the assessment findings, chapter 3 also provides a set of transnational emerging recommendations geared towards the advancement of the ASP agenda in LAC. Chapter 4 takes a forward-looking approach, exploring the World Bank's role in contributing to making social protection systems in the region more adaptive. This chapter also touches upon crucial issues within the region, including migration and the high levels of informality, thereby providing a broader perspective on the challenges and opportunities surrounding the advancement of this crucial agenda in the LAC countries.

2022, World Bank

The Annual Report is prepared by the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)--collectively known as the World Bank--in accordance with the by-laws of the two institutions. The President of the IBRD and IDA and the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors submit the Report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.

2021-06-22, World Bank Group

The Climate Change Action Plan 2021–2025 aims to advance the climate change aspects of the WBG’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach, which pursues poverty eradication and shared prosperity with a sustainability lens. In the Action Plan, we will support countries and private sector clients to maximize the impact of climate finance, aiming for measurable improvements in adaptation and resilience and measurable reductions in GHG emissions. The Action Plan also considers the vital importance of natural capital, biodiversity, and ecosystems services and will increase support for nature-based solutions, given their importance for both mitigation and adaptation. As part of our effort to drive climate action, the WBG has a long-standing record of participating in key partnerships and high-level forums aimed at enhancing global efforts to address climate change. The new Action Plan represents a shift from efforts to “green” projects, to greening entire economies, and from focusing on inputs, to focusing on impacts. It focuses on (i) integrating climate and development; (ii) identifying and prioritizing action on the largest mitigation and adaptation opportunities; and (iii) using those to drive our climate finance and leverage private capital in ways that deliver the most results. That means helping the largest emitters flatten the emissions curve and accelerate the downward trend and ramping up financing on adaptation to help countries and private sector clients prepare for and adapt to climate change while pursuing broader development objectives through the GRID approach.