This report describes efforts by the ClimateWorks Foundation and the World Bank to quantify the multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits associated with policies and projects to reduce emissions in select sectors and regions.
... See More + The report has three objectives: 1) to develop a holistic, adaptable framework to capture and measure the multiple benefits of reducing emissions of several pollutants; 2) to demonstrate how local and national policymakers, members of the international development community, and others can use this framework to design and analyze policies and projects; and 3) to contribute a compelling rationale for effectively combining climate action with sustainable development and green growth worldwide. By using a systems approach to analyze policies and projects, this work illustrates ways to capitalize on synergies between efforts to reduce emissions and spur development, minimize costs, and maximize societal benefits. This report uses several case studies to demonstrate how to apply the analytical framework. Three simulated case studies analyzed the effects of key sector policies to determine the benefits realized in the United States, China, the European Union, India, Mexico, and Brazil. The sector policies include regulations, taxes, and incentives to stimulate a shift to clean transport, improved industrial energy efficiency, and more energy efficient buildings and appliances. Also presented are results of four simulated case studies that analyzed several sub-national development projects, scaled up to the national level, to determine the additional benefits over the life of each project, generally 20 years. By applying the framework to analyze both types of interventions, this report demonstrates the efficacy of this approach for national and local policymakers, international finance organizations, and others. These case studies show that climate change mitigation and air quality protection can be integral to effective development efforts and can provide a net economic benefit. Quantifying the benefits of climate action can facilitate support from constituencies interested in public health and food and energy security; it can also advance the international discussion of effective ways to address climate change while pursuing green growth. In this report, the chapter 1 provides background information on the pollutants covered in this report and identifies opportunities to achieve both local socioeconomic and global climate objectives by reducing emissions. It also introduces new modeling tools that enable broader economic analysis of emissions-reduction programs. Chapter 2 explains how these tools can be combined to develop an effective framework to analyze policies and projects. Chapter 3 demonstrates the framework, using several policy- and project-based case studies to estimate the multiple benefits of emissions reductions from a regional or national level. Finally, Chapter 4 explores the challenges to operationalizing the framework and presents conclusions from the study.
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The Africa energy unit (AFTEG) of the World Bank has obtained financing from the trust fund for environmentally and socially sustainable development (TFESSD) funded by Finland and Norway for work towards understanding the impact of climate change on hydropower: the case of Cameroon.
... See More + The development objective of this activity is: (i) to develop tools for assessing climate change impacts on the operation of hydraulic infrastructure such as regulating dams and hydropower plants in the Sanaga river basin, and (ii) to take steps towards an institutional framework for climate resilient water resources management in Cameroon. The aim of this initiative is to build resilience to climate risks into water management in general and hydropower development in Cameroon in particular. The study includes three components: (i) develop suitable climate change scenarios for the Sanaga basin, support the electricity development corporation (EDC) of Cameroon to develop a reliable hydrological model for the Sanaga river basin, and derive climate change impacts on the potential generation capacity in the Sanaga basin in the context of changing hydrology; (ii) assess the impact of climate change on the future operation of Lom Pangar dam and three other regulating dams in the Sanaga basin and support the establishment of an operational regime of hydraulic infrastructures in the Sanaga river basin, in a consultative manner with water users and taking into account equitable sharing of resources between users and environmental flows; and (iii) assess future impacts of climate change on water resources availability and management in Cameroon. This assessment also aims to provide an analytical base for increased dialogue on climate variability and change and on integrated management of water resources in Cameroon. The assessment will identify information and knowledge gaps and priorities for future studies and activities.
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The paper estimates the effects on presidential election returns in Mexico of a government climatic contingency transfer that is allocated through rainfall-indexed insurance.
... See More + The analysis uses the discontinuity in payments that slightly deviate from a pre-established threshold, based on rainfall accumulation measured at local weather stations. It turns out that voters reward the incumbent presidential party for delivering drought relief compensation. The paper finds that receiving indemnity payments leads to significantly greater average electoral support for the incumbent party of approximately 7.6 percentage points. The analysis suggests that the incumbent party is rewarded by disaster aid recipients and punished by non-recipients. The paper contributes to the literature on retrospective voting by providing evidence that voters evaluate government actions and respond to disaster spending.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6836 APR 01, 2014
The development objective of the Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Management in the Power Sector Project for Lebanon is to assist in establishing a sound PCB management system that would minimize potential environmental and health risks from unmanaged PCB oils and equipment.
... See More + The project involves the handling, packaging, transportation of and disposal of PCB equipment and wastes, and remediation of sites contaminated with PCB hazardous chemicals. Negative impacts include: absence of adequate measures to handle increase in volume of hazardous waste; quality deterioration of segregated material coupled with increased risk of PCB release into the different environmental media; release of PCBs into the environmental media as a result of exposing the mixed waste to extreme weather conditions such as heat and rain and accelerating the release of PCB compounds into the environment through evaporation or leachate production; specific populations will be exposed to health risks by direct contact with the contaminated waste, inhalation or accidental ingestion. Mitigation measures for soil, air and water quality, waste generation, health and safety, biodiversity, traffic and socioeconomic issues include: proper storage and handling of hazardous materials; maintenance and wash down of vehicles; provision of adequate sanitary facilities; proper draining and packaging of contaminated transformers; careful handling and management of out-of-service capacitors and in-service transformers; monitoring of wells; dust suppression; conservation of existing vegetation; reuse and recycling wherever possible; access restriction to construction site; provision of potable water and first aid kits, training and fire prevention strategies.
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Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) is a multi-donor trust fund for climate change. The featured article in this issue of the newsletter, Bangladesh: the emerging hot spot where climate threats and action meet, explores a June 2013 World Bank report, Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience.
... See More + This newsletter also inlcudes the following headings: Putting local communities at the forefront of climate resilience; and Sheltering from Mahasen: preparing for the future.
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Ratings for the Fourth Montreal Protocol Ozone Depleting Substances Phaseout Project for China were as follows: outcomes were highly satisfactory; risk to development outcome was low; Bank performance was highly satisfactory and borrower performance was also highly satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned includes: Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) production issues should be tackled in a more upstream manner within the context of ODS phaseout strategies. Addressing the phase-out of ODS at the sector level is a more rational and cost effective manner by which to curb large, non-uniform and dispersed consumption and production of ODS. The use of a three pronged phase-out approach that supports policy development, technical assistance activities and the financing of ODS phase-out on at enterprise level based on annual sector reduction targets addresses the key aspects of sustainable management of complex sectoral or national initiatives. The modular nature of the umbrella modality stipulated within the project's Grant Agreement (GA) was a key in supporting the aforementioned point, though it was strongly reinforced by the addition of a standardized sectoral phase-out approach. Performance-based programming, where funds are released annually based on pre-determined phase-out schedules, targets, and specific performance indicators having been met, provides an excellent implementation structure with which to motivate and incentivize stakeholders to find the most cost effective ways to convert to non-ODS technologies or to phase-out ODS production. Investment in the development and effective management of a comprehensive Management Information System (MIS), complemented by verification of both financial records (conducted by the national audit body) and technical results by World Bank experts, are key to gauging the accuracy of results generated.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR0413 DEC 17, 2013
Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Earth's cryosphere than anywhere else on earth. Cryosphere is defined as elements of the Earth system containing water in its frozen state.
... See More + The average temperature has risen here at over twice the global mean in the Arctic, Antarctic Peninsula, and much of the Himalayas and other mountain regions. This report summarizes the changes already being observed in the following five major cryosphere regions: the Andes, Antarctica, Arctic, East African Highlands, and the Himalayas. It then provides a science-based assessment of the impact of addressing methane and black carbon to reduce the risk to the global environment and human societies, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive assessment of the changes occurring in these five regions, based on the most recent literature, including the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Chapter 3 describes the pollution and climate nexus and the evolving knowledge of how methane and black carbon impact climate specifically in cryosphere regions. Chapter 4 presents the background and methods used for new modeling work conducted as part of this study, building extensively the United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Ozone (2010). Chapter 5 presents the results of the new modeling in these five major cryosphere regions as well as globally for health, crop impacts, and climate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses the implications and new directions for the cryosphere regions emerging from these modeling results.
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The importance of weather, climate, and water1 information is rising because of the need to serve more elaborate societal needs, minimize growing economic losses, and help countries adapt to climate change.
... See More + Weather, climate, and water affect societies and economies through extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, high winds, storm surges, and prolonged droughts, and through high-impact weather and climate events that affect demand for electricity and production capacity, planting and harvesting dates, management of construction, transportation networks and inventories, and human health. The key players are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), which are the backbone of the global weather and climate enterprise. By international agreement under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), they are the government's authoritative source of weather, climate, and water information, providing timely input to emergency managers, national and local administrations, the public, and critical economic sectors. The report underscores the urgent need to strengthen NMHSs, especially those in developing countries, and provides cost-benefit estimates of the return that countries can hope to achieve. It also offers a recommended approach that has been tested and implemented in Europe, in Central and South Asia, and countries in other regions. The NMHSs make a significant contribution to safety, security, and economic well-being by observing, forecasting, and warning of pending weather, climate, and water threats.
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This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, turn down the heat: why a 4 degree celsius warmer world must be avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2 degree celsius and 4 degree celsius warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations.
... See More + It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate-related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8 degree celsius warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2 degree celsius.
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This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, turn down the heat: why a 4 degree celsius warmer world must be avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2 degree celsius and 4 degree celsius warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations.
... See More + It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate-related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8 degree celsius warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2 degree celsius.
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This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, turn down the heat: why a 4 degree celsius warmer world must be avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2 degree celsius and 4 degree celsius warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations.
... See More + It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate-related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8 degree celsius warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2 degree celsius.
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This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, turn down the heat: why a 4 degree celsius warmer world must be avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2 degree celsius and 4 degree celsius warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations.
... See More + It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate-related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8 degree celsius warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2 degree celsius.
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This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, turn down the heat: why a 4 degree celsius warmer world must be avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2 degree celsius and 4 degree celsius warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations.
... See More + It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate-related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8 degree celsius warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2 degree celsius.
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