Sector/Thematic Studies
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Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.
Sub-collections of this Collection
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Country Gender Assessment -
Recent Economic Development in Infrastructure -
Emerging Technologies -
Energy Study -
Energy-Environment Review -
Equitable Growth, Finance & Institutions Insight -
Debt and Creditworthiness Study -
General Economy, Macroeconomics, and Growth Study -
Legal and Judicial Sector Assessment -
Gender Innovation Lab Federation Causal Evidence Series
Items in this collection
1 - 10 of 60
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Publication
Building Code Checklist for Green Buildings
(Washington, DC, 2023-09-27)Globally, buildings account for 37 percent of energy and process-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. With increasing urbanization and population growth, demand for energy will continue to increase faster than the supply of renewable energy. This means that increasing the efficiency of current energy use is critical to climate change mitigation efforts while also meeting the development requirement of growing economies. Regulations that can increase the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce the carbon footprint of buildings are thus vital to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping the increase in average global temperature below 2°C. This checklist aims to facilitate a robust approach to reviewing green building provisions in building regulations by providing a discussion of fundamental green building components of building regulations, and a systematic approach to review green building provisions in regulations. -
Publication
Mobilizing Private Finance for Nature: A World Bank Group Paper on Private Finance for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-25)Biodiversity and ecosystem services, or nature for short, underpin many aspects of economic activity and are deteriorating at an unprecedented level, with potentially far-reaching implications for economies worldwide. Sustained ecosystem damage can trigger regime shifts and generate systemic impacts on human well-being and economies. For example, the degradation of natural ecosystems has been associated with an increase in the probability of emerging infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely an example of how the disturbance of ecosystems can have systemic consequences. As biodiversity is often seen as a public and therefore open access good, its conservation, restoration, and sustainable use rely heavily on scarce public sector finance. Simultaneously, governments are spending vast amounts to promote economic activities that are potentially harmful to biodiversity. This paper argues that governments and regulators, supported by financial institutions and multilateral development banks (MDBs), hold the key to mobilizing private finance at the scale needed to transform the way we build, produce, and consume to protect nature while fostering sustainable poverty reduction. The analysis looks at two key approaches to mobilizing private finance for biodiversity. First, it assesses opportunities for financing green, that is, the financing of projects that contribute, or intend to contribute, to the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity and its services to people. Second, it looks at greening finance, that is, directing financial flows away from projects with negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystems to projects that mitigate negative impact, or pursue positive environmental impact as a co-benefit. Despite growing innovation in both categories, significant challenges to scaling up private finance remain. These include policies that exacerbate the underpricing of biodiversity; lack of data, measurement, and reporting standards; and issues with biodiversity investment opportunities, which tend to be small scale and noncommercial, making private sector financing a challenge. The paper provides a set of recommendations for governments, regulators, companies, financial institutions, and MDBs. These are synthesized into a set of big five approaches to mobilize private finance for biodiversity: environmental fiscal reforms to realign incentives with sustainable practices; national biodiversity data provision and planning; the establishment of a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to support biodiversity reporting; the establishment of a Nature Action 100 to drive change in the companies whose activities most threaten biodiversity; and the provision of catalytic, concessional capital for biodiversity funds and projects. -
Publication
Valuing Green Infrastructure: A Case Study of the Vakhsh River Basin, Tajikistan
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-14)This report outlines the main results of a study conducted to assess the potential role of landscape restoration/nature-based solutions/green infrastructure in the Vakhsh River Basin, Tajikistan, to reduce the impacts of soil erosion on the hydropower cascade, increase agricultural productivity, improve livelihoods, and inform about investment opportunities. This assessment finds sediment sources and loadings in the Vakhsh River Basin, considers the potential correlation between soil erosion and sedimentation in hydropower reservoirs, proposes possible and cost-effective landscape restoration measures, and estimates the value of ecosystem services provided. The study also presents recommendations for implementing the proposed interventions for the Vakhsh River Basin and for scaling up to other degraded areas throughout the country. -
Publication
Climate and Equity: A Framework to Guide Policy Action
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-06)Reducing the impact of climate change on poor and vulnerable households is essential to hastening poverty reduction. In thinking about policies that do this, it is useful to apply the same hazard, exposure and vulnerability framework that is often used to understand the physical impacts of climate change and add the non-climate benefits and costs to households that these policies can also bring. Policies that reduce hazards and vulnerability whilst bringing non-climate benefits—triple win policies—are not very common, but where possible they should be prioritized. Policies that reduce vulnerability and bring non-climate benefits are more common. However, some development policies that bring non-climate benefits, particularly in higher-income and higher-growth countries, may increase emissions by enough to worsen future hazards, so their emissions impact needs to be managed with compensating actions. Policies that reduce the hazards faced by poor households are needed, and the non-climate cost of these policies on poor people should be minimized or compensated where it cannot be avoided. -
Publication
Plastic Waste in Road Construction: A Path Worth Paving? Application of Dry Process in South Asia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-24)As global plastic waste continues to grow, the global community is coalescing to reduce plastic waste. Some stakeholders are also exploring new options to use plastic waste as partial substitute for raw material. The use of plastic waste as a bitumen modifier in road construction, referred to here as ‘plastic roads’, is one option being explored. We reviewed the scientific literature, news articles, and patents; conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis; and interviewed representatives from private companies and independent, scientific researchers to determine the existing knowledge gaps regarding the (1) technology feasibility, including engineering performance; (2) environmental issues; (3) occupational health; (4) economic viability; and (5) industry standards surrounding plastic roads. We found that many companies are starting to implement or pilot this technology worldwide though key gaps in engineering performance, such as cracking resistance, remain. The environmental issues reviewed also have research gaps, including the generation of hazardous air pollutants during production; microplastics and nanoplastics generation during use; and leaching of additives from plastic waste during use. Industry standards for the use of plastic waste in road construction are lacking. In addition, there is prevailing uncertainty in the economic viability of the technology. As a result of these key research gaps, the Ways Forward section presents a roadmap for short- and longterm research priorities. -
Publication
Greening Public Human Development Buildings in Croatia: Support for the Implementation of the European Green Deal in the Croatian Health and Education Sectors
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-18)The goal of this policy note is twofold: first, to identify and propose how to address some of the key regulatory and implementation hurdles that Croatia and potentially other EU Member States are facing in greening their HD infrastructure while improving HD outcomes; and second, to compile best practices and examples in green design, construction, and renovation of public HD buildings. The Note will also provide guidance and encourage dialogue among relevant policy makers at national, regional, and local levels, and with targeted clients. Furthermore, the recommendations would address the importance of green skills development and other related topics relevant to the implementation of EUGD. Overall, the analysis results and the recommendations on these issues could also be useful for World Bank experts and other external stakeholders focused on the green economy and human development. -
Publication
Steering the Human Development Strategy for a Sustainable Green Economy in the Slovak Republic
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-17)The rippling effects of multiple overlapping crises on the economy, declining education outcomes, and inability of the education system to meet the upcoming needs of the labor market puts the Slovak Republic in a human capital crisis. There is a misalignment between the supply and outcomes of the education system and requirements of the labor market. Education-to-work pathways through vocational and tertiary education are insufficient to prepare students for the green economy transition. Education-to-work pathways need to be flexible to align worker choices with needs of the labor market. This policy note provides a deep dive into the education situation in the Slovak Republic and proposes specific policy recommendations aiming at the skilling and reskilling toward the green and digital agenda, utilizing European and international experiences in this area. -
Publication
Jobs, Food and Greening: Exploring Implications of the Green Transition for Jobs in the Agri-food System
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-16)The agri-food system (AFS) employs about one third of the global workforce and contributes about one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This together with its large exposure to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation makes what happens in AFS central to the green transition and its implications for jobs and the structural transformation. Microeconomic evidence suggests that the adoption of climate smart agricultural practices will increase labor requirements, at least in the short run and at lower levels of incomes, when its mechanization is still limited. Econometric macro-model-based simulations suggest however that especially substantial investment in climate friendly agricultural R&D as well as soil and water preserving practices and market integration will more than offset the negative effects of climate change and even accelerate the structural transformation, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. Overall, the findings underscore the tremendous potential of increasing agricultural and climate friendly R&D investment for brokering an environmentally sustainable structural transformation. Repurposing of agriculture’s current US$ 638 billion support package towards supporting more climate friendly practices, including to overcome the time lag between the moment of investment and the realization of the benefits, provides an important policy entry point. -
Publication
Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience: A Guideline for Project Developers
(World Bank, 2023-05-12)This document aims to guide the design, implementation, and use of studies to value the benefits and costs of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for climate resilience projects. Reliable quantification of the costs and benefits of NBS for climate resilience can facilitate further mainstreaming of these interventions by articulating the value proposition of NBS across sectors, improve impact evaluation, and for identifying additional funding and financing for projects. This report provides an overview of methods and approaches, along with a decision framework to guide the design of NBS cost and benefit assessment. The decision framework presented should enable project developers to come up with a cost-effective approach for quantifying the benefits and costs of NBS that is effective and convincing in the context of climate resilience projects. To illustrate this in practical applications, eight case studies from World Bank projects are also included to better show how different valuation methods are applied in the field. -
Publication
Landscape Restoration Opportunities in the Naryn River Basin, the Kyrgyz Republic: Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) Report
(Washington, DC, 2023-03)This report outlines the main results of the study based on the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) conducted in the Naryn River Basin, the Kyrgyz Republic. This assessment identifies degraded forest and pasture areas, considers the potential correlation between land degradation and sedimentation in hydropower reservoirs, and proposes feasible and effective landscape restoration measures for the Naryn River Basin. The study also presents several recommendations to fast-track the implementation of proposed interventions for the Naryn River Basin and scale up to other degraded areas throughout the country.