Publication: Urban Nature and Biodiversity for Cities: Policy Brief
Loading...
Published
2021-09
ISSN
Date
2021-10-04
Editor(s)
Abstract
This is the urban century; over half of humanity now lives in cities and more than 70 percent are expected to do so by 2050. Today, cities are hubs of social interchange, economic vitality, and innovation. Yet the pace and scale of global transformation in where and how people live pose threats to biodiversity and nature that demand serious attention. In today’s complex world, it is natural - and sometimes necessary - to compartmentalize sectors and realms of experience. Thus, urban planning traditionally occurs without much consideration of biodiversity and nature. It is therefore imperative that cities are designed in ways that maintain the provision of ecosystem services and that national and international conservation plans consider urban centers. This report presents the scientific basis for why and how incorporating biodiversity and nature into urban design is crucial for achieving sustainability, livability, resilience, and equity in cities and beyond. Section one defines key terms and concepts, section two examines what is at stake regarding urban nature and biodiversity, section three explores what urban leaders can do to promote them, section four offers some practical tools and approaches for incorporating urban nature and biodiversity into urban decision-making, and section five concludes.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Guerry, Anne D.; Smith, Jeffrey R.; Lonsdorf, Eric; Daily, Gretchen C.; Wang, Xueman; Chun, Yuna; Smith, Jeffrey. 2021. Urban Nature and Biodiversity for Cities: Policy Brief. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36325 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Expanding Financing for Biodiversity Conservation : Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean(Washington, DC, 2013-01)The Latin America and Caribbean Region has been at the forefront of global biodiversity conservation, dedicating 20 percent of its land to protected areas compared to 13 percent in the rest of the developing world. This progress has stretched available budgets for conservation with estimates indicating that a twofold increase would be necessary to achieve optimal management of existing protected areas based on 2008 data. Recognizing the importance of this financing challenge, this document presents examples of how the region is successfully exploring news ways and sources of finance for biodiversity conservation. It is intended as an input to the global discussions on biodiversity financing drawing from a selective review of concrete experiences where governments are tapping nonpublic finance sources in effective partnerships. The cases reviewed point to common features contributing to their success: (i) variety in arrangements; (ii) enabling legal and institutional support; (iii) capacity based on record of experience; (iv) building social capital; (v) clarity about conservation objectives; (vi) strong government leadership in guiding biodiversity conservation policies and programs.Publication Investing in Natural Capital for Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity : A Biodiversity Roadmap for the WBG(Washington, DC, 2014-06)The World Bank Group (WBG) has a long experience in engaging in biodiversity with world-class expertise in the field. It has been the single largest funder of biodiversity investments since the late 1980s. The WBG investments have largely been of two kinds: (1) investments in biodiversity, aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of species, habitats, and ecosystems that sustain healthy ecosystems, while enhancing people's livelihoods and safety nets. These investments have also been providing jobs and economic development in frequently impoverished rural areas for example by supporting protected areas and an increasingly important tourism industry; and (2) investments that add value to projects in other sectors, such as irrigation, hydropower, and infrastructure, by increasing their environmental sustainability. The WBG is a global center of excellence that provides economy wide technical and economic knowledge and expertise on biodiversity and ecosystems. It has the standing and convening power to facilitate participatory dialogue between client countries and networks of other relevant stakeholders on matters of biodiversity and climate change concern, such as loss of ecosystem resilience, forest law enforcement and governance, wildlife trade, and overexploitation of natural resources.Publication Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Adaptation : Nature-based Solutions from the World Bank Portfolio(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)Climate change is a serious environmental challenge that could undermine the drive for sustainable development. Since the industrial revolution, the mean surface temperature of earth has increased an average of 1degree celsius per century due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Furthermore, most of this change has occurred in the past 30 to 40 years, and the rate of increase is accelerating, with significant impacts both at a global scale and at local and regional levels. While it remains important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reverse climate change in the long run, many of the impacts of climate change are already in evidence. As a result, governments, communities, and civil society are increasingly concerned with anticipating the future effects of climate change while searching for strategies to mitigate, and adapt to, it's current effects.Publication Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Adaptation : Nature-Based Solutions from the World Bank Portfolio(Washington, DC, 2008-09)Climate change is a serious environmental challenge that could undermine the drive for sustainable development. Since the industrial revolution, the mean surface temperature of earth has increased an average of 1degree celsius per century due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Furthermore, most of this change has occurred in the past 30 to 40 years, and the rate of increase is accelerating, with significant impacts both at a global scale and at local and regional levels. While it remains important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reverse climate change in the long run, many of the impacts of climate change are already in evidence. As a result, governments, communities, and civil society are increasingly concerned with anticipating the future effects of climate change while searching for strategies to mitigate, and adapt to, it's current effects.Publication Panama : Country Environmental Analysis(Washington, DC, 2008-06-23)Panama is experiencing spectacular economic growth, averaging 7.5 percent during 2004-06; a construction boom; and emerging new opportunities and growing export markets. Despite this impressive growth performance, at the national level poverty remained almost unchanged during 1997-2006 at around 37 percent (masking a decline in rural poverty and an increase in urban and indigenous areas). Key development challenges for Panama include: (a) sustaining its accelerated recent growth performance, and (b) translating growth into poverty reduction. Natural resources and the environment must be key elements of any successful strategy to meet these challenges. The main objective of the Panama Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to provide an analytical foundation to enhance the country's capacity to establish and address environmental policy priorities linked to poverty reduction and sustained economic growth. This report covers three main areas. First, the report analyzes the capabilities of Panama's institutions to perform essential tasks to manage the environment and natural resources; namely identifying problems and designing and implementing policies to solve them. The analysis therefore places great emphasis on the clarity of policies; mechanisms for coordination; use of and access to information, participation, and consultation; and, mechanisms to promote compliance with legislation. The premise of the institutional approach is that only strong institutions are able to offer efficient, equitable, and durable solutions to the increasingly complex problems faced by modern societies. Second, the report identifies environmental and natural resource management issues of key sectors, such as mining and tourism, to provide information on strategic synergies and tradeoffs involving the environment, economic growth, and poverty. Finally, the report offers new quantitative estimates in the fields of environmental health and climate change that will help the Government of Panama establish policy priorities.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)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 Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)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.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.