Publication:
A Financing Facility for Low-Carbon Development

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (1.97 MB)
396 downloads
English Text (133.21 KB)
99 downloads
Published
2010-10-01
ISSN
Date
2012-03-19
2012-04-04
Editor(s)
Abstract
The reality of climate change associated with anthropogenic emissions is now widely acknowledged by the scientific community. Its potential devastating future harms are equally well perceived and as stated in the Copenhagen Accord major nations agree on the need to jointly and urgently combat climate change. The international community is also quite aware that stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of green-house gases (GHG) at supportable levels will require a drastic reduction in GHG emissions within a limited period of time. Undertaking such an enormous effort triggers several interlinked challenges: (1) technically mitigating GHG emissions to the required level; (2) implementing these solutions in countries where the required amount of emission reduction is most realistically and efficiently achievable in particular through involving and using in full the large potential of developing countries; and (3) mobilizing the large amount of financing needed to ensure that the corresponding projects and programs can be effectively implemented. Furthermore, these challenges must be simultaneously addressed in a way that is acceptable to all the parties involved. This means in particulars that any arrangement designed to meet the global GHG emission reduction challenge must be consistent with the principle of the common but differentiated responsibilities of developed and developing countries.
Link to Data Set
Citation
de Gouvello, Christophe; Zelenko, Ivan; Ambrosi, Philippe. 2010. A Financing Facility for Low-Carbon Development. World Bank Working Paper ; No. 203. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5914 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
  • Publication
    Greening Digital in Korea
    (Washington, DC, 2022-02) World Bank
    Digital technologies are making a significant impact on societies, economies, and the physical world, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the green agenda. Applications of these technologies in sectors such as energy, urban, transport, and agriculture are creating new possibilities for climate change mitigation strategies. However, the rapid expansion of digital technologies increases energy usage too, and is therefore also increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In seeking to address these challenges, the World Bank’s Digital Development Global Practice (DD) will publish a flagship report on Digital Development Opportunities for Climate Change, which will assess opportunities for greening with information communication technology (ICT), as well as opportunities for greening the ICT sector itself. To inspire and inform this flagship report, DD studied Korea’s experience in greening its ICT sector, with support from the Korean Green Growth Trust Fund. The Republic of Korea was selected for the case study due to its experience in both the digital and green sectors, and its status as a globally recognized ICT powerhouse. The country was also an early adopter of a green policy agenda, and is integrating DNA (data, network, and AI) into these policies. The government announced a national policy vision of “Low Carbon, Green Growth” in 2008 and has taken concrete steps to build a solid foundation for the green transition, through legislation, standardization, information-based instruments, economic instruments, research and development (R&D), and green procurement. More recently, the country has been aligning its green ICT strategy with the broader national GHG reduction target. Korea's experience can offer meaningful lessons to other countries looking to reduce the ICT sector’s climate impact. It shows that public policies have an important impact on the ICT market. The policy tools that can spur decarbonization of the ICT sector include green government procurement, information-based instruments, economic instruments, and provision of guidelines on green business practices. Keys to success in applying such tools include strong and early political commitment; long-term planning and comprehensive policies; prioritization; research and development (R&D) and investment; and a governance structure that allows a whole-of-government approach. Additionally, Korea’s experience shows that renewable energy will play an increasingly important role in reducing GHG emissions from the energy-intensive ICT industry. Korea’s experience also underscores the fact that more evidence and analysis are needed to measure and determine the effectiveness of policy and regulatory pathways for greening the ICT sector.
  • Publication
    Assessing Incentives to Increase Digital Payment Acceptance and Usage
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01-18) Allen, Jeff; Carbo Valverde, Santiago; Chakravorti, Sujit; Rodriguez-Fernandez, Francisco; Pinar Ardic, Oya
    An important step to achieve greater financial inclusion is to increase the acceptance and usage of digital payments. Although consumer adoption of digital payments has improved dramatically globally, the acceptance and usage of digital payments for micro, small, and medium-sized retailers (MSMRs) remain challenging. Using random forest estimation, The authors identify 14 key predictors out of 190 variables with the largest predictive power for MSMR adoption and usage of digital payments. Using conditional inference trees, they study the importance of sequencing and interactions of various factors such as public policy initiatives, technological advancements, and private sector incentives. The authors find that in countries with low point of sale (POS) terminal adoption, killer applications such as mobile phone payment apps increase the likelihood of P2B digital transactions. They also find the likelihood of digital P2B payments at MSMRs increases when MSMRs pay their employees and suppliers digitally. The level of ownership of basic financial accounts by consumers and the size of the shadow economy are also important predictors of greater adoption and usage of digital payments. Using causal forest estimation, they find a positive and economically significant marginal effect for merchant and consumer fiscal incentives on POS terminal adoption on average. When countries implement financial inclusion initiatives, POS terminal adoption increases significantly and MSMRs’ share of person-to-business (P2B) digital payments also increases. Merchant and consumer fiscal incentives also increase MSMRs’ share of P2B electronic payments.
  • Publication
    Environmental Implications of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
    (Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-07) Lee, Soohyang; Park, Jinhee
    Two-thirds of central banks in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have started researching or testing the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). At the same time, the region accounts for one-third of world CO2 emissions and is vulnerable to climate risks. As the Group of 7 (G7), European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of England (BoE) have stated in their public statements, it is increasingly important to consider environmental impact when designing CBDC. However, only a few brief studies have been done on this subject, which will be crucial for the region. This Note explores the environmental implications of CBDC by comparing technical mechanisms and energy consumption within its distributed structure. It also illustrates differences in ecological footprint between CBDC and other payment methods (cryptocurrency, cash, and card networks). As the legitimacy of CBDC is backed by the trust of central banks, CBDC does not need to prove its legitimacy through its technological structure. Therefore, CBDC does not require the energy-intensive consensus or mining mechanisms used by a cryptocurrency, so its energy consumption is lower (comparable to that of a credit card system). CBDC can be designed to use various systems, such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), or a mixture of both. Careful deliberation to meet the objectives and implications will be important as CBDC can be a catalyst for financial innovation.
  • Publication
    Assessment of the Labor Market Information System (LMIS) in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic PDR
    (Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank
    The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) has made substantial progress in poverty reduction even though its resource-based development pattern has historically limited the impact of growth on poverty reduction. The objective of the assessment is to support the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MOLSW) in their planned reforms of labor market institutions and systems in Lao; in particular by supporting investments in a comprehensive Labor Market Information System (LMIS) for improved jobseeker data collection and analytics, jobseeker profiling, and assignment to various employment support programs such as vocational trainings and job search assistance. The target audience of this report is the technical staff and management at the department levels as well as the policy makers at the MOLSW, Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) as well as the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
  • Publication
    The Behavioral Professional
    (Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022) Lourenço, Joana S.; Vakis, Renos; Zoratto, Laura
    Over the past decade, governments, multilateral organizations, and think tanks have been increasingly using behavioral science as an additional tool to understand and tackle complex policy challenges in several sectors. Yet despite this increase in the use of behavioral science for policy design, little attention has been given so far to those individuals responsible for designing and implementing public policies and programs: policy professionals. This note aims to achieve three objectives. first, it highlights recent examples building on work done by the eMBeD team and the World Bank at large on how behavioral bottlenecks can hinder key development goals, from ensuring inclusive and equitable education for all (SDG4) to ensuring good health and well-being (SDG3), among others. Second, the note presents a behavioral framework highlighting the individual, group and institutional contexts that affect policy professionals. Finally, it showcases the relevance of the behavioral approach to a broad range of areas - including public service design, corruption and accountability, service design, access and delivery, civil servants’ performance - by pinpointing common bottlenecks faced, and potential solutions to overcome them.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    The Prototype Carbon Fund : Addressing Challenges of Globalization - An Independent Evaluation of the World Bank's Approach to Global Programs
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-12-08) Kelly, Lauren; Jordan, Jeffery
    The prototype carbon fund (PCF) is a public-private partnership whose mission is to pioneer a market for project-based greenhouse gas emission reductions within the framework of the Kyoto protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). PCF seeks to show how project-based greenhouse gas emission reduction transactions can lower the cost of compliance with Kyoto, promote sustainable development, and mobilize new resources for Bank clients. Recognizing the global environmental benefits of emissions reductions regardless of location, Kyoto allows industrialized countries and firms to offset certain obligations through the purchase of lower-cost emission reductions (ERs) in developing and in-transition countries. This review identifies Bank comparative advantage-related issues, as well as the issues raised by competition between the Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) in carbon finance.
  • Publication
    10 Years of Experience in Carbon Finance : Insights from Working with the Kyoto Mechanisms
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010-05-01) World Bank
    Under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the industrialized countries adopted quantified emission reductions obligations. Marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the World Bank Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF) the world's first global carbon fund, this report seeks to take stock of the World Bank's experience of working with the Kyoto Protocol's project-based mechanisms over the past decade. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), as the much larger system in terms of projects, emission reductions and host countries, is the basis for much of the report's discussion. Joint Implementation (JI) is also discussed. Policy-makers and negotiators are working on advancing the policy framework and the regulatory structures to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHGs) at greater scale. Furthering the use of market instruments should incorporate the lessons of the past into future designs, making full use of the experience and learning that has been gained. This will mean building upon the successes of the current CDM and JI regulatory frameworks, addressing weaknesses, and abandoning what is not working. This publication seeks to make a constructive contribution to this debate, in full respect of the ongoing international climate change negotiations, by providing insights and recommendations from a practitioner's experience and perspective.
  • Publication
    Aligning Climate Change Mitigation and Agricultural Policies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-06) Dinar, Ariel; Larson, Donald F.; Blankespoor, Brian
    Greenhouse gas emissions are largely determined by how energy is created and used, and policies designed to encourage mitigation efforts reflect this reality. However, an unintended consequence of an energy-focused strategy is that the set of policy instruments needed to tap mitigation opportunities in agriculture is incomplete. In particular, market-linked incentives to achieve mitigation targets are disconnected from efforts to better manage carbon sequestered in agricultural land. This is especially important for many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia where once-productive land has been degraded through poor agricultural practices. Often good agricultural policies and prudent natural resource management can compensate for missing links to mitigation incentives, but only partially. At the same time, two international project-based programs, Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism, have been used to finance other types of agricultural mitigation efforts worldwide. Even so, a review of projects suggests that few countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia take full advantage of these financing paths. This paper discusses mitigation opportunities in the region, the reach of current mitigation incentives, and missed mitigation opportunities in agriculture. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative policies designed to jointly promote mitigation and co-benefits for agriculture and the environment.
  • Publication
    Beyond the Sum of Its Parts
    (Washington, DC, 2010) World Bank
    The world development report 2010 estimates that an additional $200 billion per year of climate-related financing is needed in developing countries between now and 2030 to keep global average temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius. Developing countries face increased financing challenges over coming decades as they seek to pursue economic development along a lower emission trajectory. The goal of this paper is twofold: i) to provide greater information and clarity on these three mitigation-related climate financing instruments available for the World Bank Group (WBG) and their application in the context of specific projects and national policy frameworks; and ii) to draw lessons for the broader development community on how resources from different climate financing instruments can be combined for expanded impact, increased leverage, and enhanced efficiency. This paper represents an initial contribution to this field and will be followed by papers focusing on guarantees for low-carbon growth support for the private sector and the challenges of financing climate resilience and adaptation.
  • Publication
    Climate Change and the World Bank Group : Phase II - The Challenge of Low-Carbon Development
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010) Independent Evaluation Group
    The first volume of Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) series (IEG 2009) examined World Bank experience with the promotion of the most important win-win (no regrets) energy policies, policies that combine domestic gains with global greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. These included energy pricing reform and policies to promote energy efficiency. This second phase covers the entire World Bank Group (WBG), including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). It assesses of interventions, from technical assistance to financing to regulatory reform. This project-eye view of activities pertains to all the action areas of the Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change (SFDCC). The third phase will look at the challenge of adaptation to climate change. The WBG's resources, human and financial, are small compared to the task at hand. The International Energy Agency estimates that developing and transition countries need $16 trillion of energy sector investments over 2008-30 under 'business as usual' operations, plus an additional $5 trillion to shift to an ambitiously low-carbon path. Much more is needed for sustainable land and forest management and for urban transport. So a prime focus of this evaluation is how the WBG can get the most leverage, the widest positive impact on both development and climate change mitigation, from its limited resources.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    Preventing, Detecting, and Deterring Fraud in Social Health Insurance Programs
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-11) Chabra, Sheena; Menon, Rekha; Postolovska, Iryna; Smith, Owen; Tandon, Ajay; Ulep, Val
    This paper draws lessons from anti-fraud experiences in social health insurance programs of six selected countries across the income spectrum: Indonesia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Croatia, Turkey, and the United States. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect information on how the programs prevent, detect, and deter fraud. The questionnaire was supplemented by a literature review and conversations with key informants. The analysis summarizes similarities and differences in the legal framework, institutional mechanisms, and capacity to manage fraud. Across all countries, the primary responsibility for managing fraud lies with the public entity that administers the program. In terms of capacity, all program-administering agencies have dedicated anti-fraud units and staff. In addition, all countries have specific anti-fraud policies and guidelines that address fraud and have a clear operational and legal definition of fraud. In terms of preventing fraud, the use of pre-authorization screening for high-end procedures is common. For detecting fraud, most countries use anti-fraud ‘hotlines’ and encourage other forms of reporting of suspected fraudulent behavior; the use of ‘red flags’-triggers that identify suspicious claims based on deviations from norms, is also common. The level of sophistication in using data analytics to detect potential fraud, however, varies across countries. Social health insurance programs in higher-income countries are more likely to use advanced statistical and data-mining techniques compared to those in lower-income countries. All programs across all countries undertake post-reimbursement medical claims and beneficiary audits. In terms of deterring fraud, sanctions often include the use of financial penalties, cancellation of contracts, and criminal prosecutions; however, in most countries, public providers are not penalized and prosecuted to the same degree as private providers.
  • Publication
    A Strategic Approach to Climate Change in the Philippines
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-04) Transport and Traffic Planners (TTPI) Inc.; CPI Energy Phils., Inc.
    Globally, the Philippines is a minor emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), but cost-effective mitigation present opportunities that should be captured, noting that the country is one of the signatory member states to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. The country accounts for less than 0.3 percent of global GHG emissions in 2004.4 However, emissions are on the rise from both energy-use and land-use changes. Even if the absolute scale will remain small, there are increasing number of development projects under preparation, which offers opportunities for cost-effective mitigation and adaptation measures. The Philippine Government's response to the climate change challenge has been active institutionally noting the recent restructuring of the Presidential task force on climate change. However, a clear strategy and action plan are still lacking. The international donor community, including development partners such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is actively engaged in addressing climate change in the Philippines. There are several initiatives on capacity building for GHG accounting, monitoring and reporting, for preparation of a second National Communication to the UNFCCC, governance, renewable energy, urban air quality management, and forest management. There are likewise several World Bank supported climate change-related activities, with nine active operations. These encompass primarily energy sector operations.
  • Publication
    Inflation in Emerging and Developing Economies
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019) Ha, Jongrim; Kose, M. Ayhan; Ohnsorge, Franziska; Ha, Jongrim; Kose, M. Ayhan; Ohnsorge, Franziska; Ivanova, Anna; Laborde, David; Lakatos, Csilla; Martin, Will; Matsuoka, Hideaki; Montiel, Peter J.; Panizza, Ugo; Pedroni, Peter; Stocker, Marc; Unsal, Filiz D.; Vorisek, Dana; Yilmazkuday, Hakan
    Emerging market and developing economies, like advanced economies, have experienced a remarkable decline in inflation over the past half-century. Yet, research into this development has focused almost exclusively on advanced economies. This book fills that gap, providing the first comprehensive and systematic analysis of inflation in emerging market and developing economies. It examines how inflation has evolved and become synchronized among economies; what drives inflation globally and domestically; where inflation expectations have become better-anchored; and how exchange rate fluctuations can pass through to inflation. To reach its conclusions, the book employs cutting edge empirical approaches. It also offers a rich data set of multiple measures of inflation for a virtually global sample of countries over a half-century to spur further research into this important topic.
  • Publication
    Impact of European Union Membership on Agriculture and Rural Development in Newly Acceded Member States
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) Schuman, Irina; Goss, Stephen; Smith, Garry
    This Policy Note looks at impacts of European Union accession on agriculture and rural sectors, taking into account specific sectoral features and policy choices pre- and post-accession. The most important lesson learned from recently acceded member states is that policy choices before accession will largely determine whether the agriculture sector will be able to fully reap the benefits of EU membership, by expanding trade, or will struggle in the face of increased market pressure. Every EU candidate country faces a twofold challenge: it needs to direct its agriculture and rural development policy towards increased sectoral competitiveness, and align its legal framework and institutions with the EU membership requirements. Far too often, fulfilling the latter becomes the leading priority, while some underlying sectoral challenges are overlooked. These fail to receive appropriate support pre- and post- accession − due to suboptimal domestic policies and/or foregone EU funding opportunities. The unresolved issues may continue to linger once the country joins the EU, and diminish the effectiveness of EU policies and funding. Serbia is at the very junction where this challenge needs to be addressed. Some producers have already started to benefit from trade liberalization, with strong growth in response to a rapid increase in exports (cereals, oilseeds, fresh fruit and vegetables); others are unable to adapt and are dwindling (dairy and meat production). Based on past experience and taking into account the key features of its agriculture sector, Serbia needs to use this short window of opportunity to focus on re-calibrating its budget resources so that they better stimulate the development of competitive farm units. In parallel, it needs to ensure that alignment with EU requirements – both in policy and institutional terms – remains on track, yet it does not sideline the needed sector transformation prior to EU accession.