LAC Occasional Paper Series

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The LCSSD Occasional Paper Series is a publication of the Sustainable Development Department (LCSSD) in the World Bank’s Latin America and the Caribbean Region. The papers in this series are the result of economic and technical research conducted by members of the LCSSD community. The series addresses issues that are relevant to the region’s environmental and social sustainability; water, urban, energy and transport sector development; agriculture, forestry and rural development; as well as cross-cutting topics related to sustainable development such as climate change; logistics; crime and violence; and spatial economics. While all papers in this series are peer reviewed and cleared by the LCSSD Economics Unit on behalf of the Director of LCSSD, the findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper, as in all publications of the LCSSD Occasional Paper Series, are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations or to members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent. The World Bank does not garantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use.

Items in this collection

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  • Publication
    Restoring the Coastal Environment in Cartagena, Colombia
    (Washington, DC, 2014) World Bank
    Cartagena, the historic city where the '1983 Cartagena convention for the Protection of the Caribbean' was signed, is meeting its responsibilities to protect the public health of its citizens as well as the costal marine environment through improved wastewater management. Cartagena's experience can serve as an inspiration to the wider Caribbean region and provide a model for other developing coastal cities. Water pollution control is a key issue for the world's coastal cities. Pollution emanating from domestic and industrial wastewater can not only contaminate the ocean environment but also damage highly productive estuaries and bays that provide a critical ecological connection to the marine environment. Inadequate wastewater management can also pollute urban beaches, potentially threatening public health and undermining tourism. This technical note summarizes Cartagena's experience in wastewater management for international dissemination and was jointly prepared by the World Bank, the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Cartagena water utility (ACUACAR), and the Global Partnership for the Oceans (GPO).
  • Publication
    Inclusive Green Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
    (Washington, DC, 2013-01) World Bank
    Argentina has expanded the use of its portion of the Parana-Paraguay waterways system for the transportation of soy and other bulk commodities through an innovative tolling system that self-finances the dredging and maintenance of the rivers. Brazil, in turn, is pursuing a 'green trucking' strategy to improve efficiency of its cargo haulage industry, reduce petroleum usage, and curb pollution from trucking. For the entire hemisphere, the expansion of the Panama Canal will bring post-Panama vessels and introduce greater scale economies in shipping. The following sections of this paper provide a more detailed review of the sectoral objectives, challenges, and way forward in making Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) growth greener and more inclusive. It looks back over the achievements of the demand sectors of urban development and infrastructure services, energy, urban transport, and water and sanitation, as well as natural resources and rural development since Rio 1992. It highlights the achievements in those areas, and the ability of those accomplishments to establish a robust path for the region to inclusive green growth.
  • Publication
    Unintended Consequences of Food Subsidies : The Case of the Haiti Rice Subsidy
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-03-17) Arias, Diego; Carneus, Maxime
    Haiti is an important rice consumer, and a big rice importer. Around 86 percent of the Haitian population consumes rice. The decision to implement an indirect subsidy was made based on the fact that import prices had in the past been transmitted fully and immediately to rice consumers. Thus, a subsidy to the price of rice at the level of the importers was expected to be passed on immediately into benefits (savings) to rice consumers. The Government also prohibited rice exports to the Dominican Republic in order to avoid re-export of subsidized rice. The subsidy scheme was implemented by forming a public-private sector Presidential Commission between the Central Bank of Haiti (BRH), the President's Office and rice importers. Although the rice price subsidy program did produce the intended savings to Haitian consumers during the 4-month period of the subsidy program (April-August 2008), this intervention caused medium term distortions in the domestic market of imported rice such that domestic prices of imported rice have risen beyond the price that consumers would have faced without a subsidy program. The actual prices consumers faced after the subsidy program was implemented were much more volatile than the estimated price without a subsidy program, pointing to also an increased consumer uncertainty about local market prices for rice. Using a targeted food voucher as a subsidy mechanism is not only more efficient, but can have higher impact on nutrition as it can be used for a wide variety.