MEDIA REPORTS
TRADE, FINANCE AND
INVESTMENT IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
This page was updated
on: 12/09/10
2010
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GEF Endorses Projects on International Waters
World Bank and UNDP Launch Climate Finance Options
Database
GEF Supports Tiger Initiatives
DECEMBER 2010
GEF Endorses Projects
on International Waters
November 2010:
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) gave a final green light to a
series of full-sized projects during the month of November, which allows
their final approval by implementing agencies to commence activities,
including on international waters. These include a US$9.7 million
project for several small island developing States (SIDS), namely: Cape
Verde, Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, and
Seychelles to promote integrated water resource and wastewater
management in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; and a global project
to strengthen global portfolio experience sharing, learning and
replication to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of GEF
international waters projects in delivering tangible results. [GEF
full-sized projects website]
World Bank and UNDP
Launch Climate Finance Options Database
30 November 2010: The World Bank and UN
Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a Climate Finance Options
platform, which allows users to track climate-change related finance by
region, focus area, sector or financing mechanism. The database seeks to
respond to information needs on the multitude of funds available for
climate action in developing countries. The platform aims to help
stakeholders in developing countries, such as project developers and
local government officials, orient themselves in the field of climate
finance and find most suitable sources of funds. [The
platform]
GEF Supports Tiger
Initiatives
The Global Environment
Facility (GEF) highlighted its support for initiatives to save the tiger
during the International Tiger Conservation Forum, which took place in
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, from 21-24 November 2010. The GEF
indicated it will provide up to US$50 million in grants to save the
tiger, through contributions to be invested by developing countries
using their GEF allocations in biodiversity, supplemented by investments
from its REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation,
sustainable use of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks) Program.
The GEF will also collaborate with the World Bank and other development
partners in the Global Tiger Recovery Program. The GEF commitment on
this issue complements the recently launched "Save Our Species" (www.SOSpecies.org)
initiative, a partnership between the GEF, the World Bank and IUCN to
attract private sector investments in species conservation and expected
to become one of the largest and most comprehensive fund to protect
globally threatened species. [GEF
CEO statement to Tiger Summit] [GEF
post on BIODIVERSITY-L] [International
Tiger Conservation Forum website]
NOVEMBER 2010
World Bank Signs First
ERPA on Soil Carbon in Africa
November
2010: The World Bank signed the first African Emission Reduction
Purchase Agreement (ERPA) on soil carbon for the Kenya Agricultural
Carbon Project, located on 45,000 hectares in the Nyanza Province and
Western Province of Kenya. Small-holder farmers and small-scale business
entrepreneurs are trained in cropland management techniques, which
increase the yield of the land and generate additional sources of income
for the farmers through the payment for environmental services in the
form of carbon credits. The World Bank-administered BioCarbon Fund will
buy the carbon credits, providing direct benefit to local communities of
over US$350,000 with an initial payment of US$80,000 to be made in 2011.
[World Bank
press release]
OCTOBER 2010
GEF Launches International Partnership to Protect Production
Ecosystems
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched the International
Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative, a platform for organizations
engaged in integrating conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
in production landscapes, including forests and agricultural lands. The
GEF will facilitate the use of its grant modalities, including enabling
activities, Small Grants Programme (SGP), and medium and full size
projects, as leveraged opportunities for activities related to the
Satoyama Initiative, provided they are eligible under the GEF-5
Biodiversity Focal Area Strategy, and attend to country needs and
priorities. [GEF
press release]
World Bank receives
pledge from Norway for Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund
9 October 2010: Norway has
pledged US$30 million to the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF),
entrusted to the World Bank, with the aim of supporting Guyana's
policies for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and
forest degradation, and its progress in governance-related indicators.
Guyana will invest the payments it receives, and any income earned on
them, in its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Norway's payments
to Guyana may amount to approximately US$250 million over the period to
2015, depending on Guyana's performance according to a methodology set
out by the two countries in November 2009. The partnership is based on
the concept of "payment for ecosystem services" and aims to contribute
to the creation of a global regime to assign economic value to standing
forests. [World
Bank press release]
SEPTEMBER 2010
Turkey Designates No Take Fishing Zones
in Gökova Bay
20 September 2010: With the support of the
Global Environment Facility's (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), the
Underwater Research Society (SAD) initiated a project on establishment
of No Take Fishing Zone (NTFZ) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the
Turkish Gökova Bay in 2009. In Turkey, overfishing and over capacity of
fishing fleets pose serious threats to the marine biodiversity. Through
a participatory process, the SAD established NTFZs that will benefit
marine habitats where valuable fish stocks already collapsed and
invasive Lesepsian fish have serious impact grazing on algae cover in
the littoral zones. These NTFZs were officially announced in July 2010,
and are the first in the country. [GEF
press release]
World
Bank Funded Project Registers First CDM Program of Activities in Africa
26 July
2010: The World Bank has supported the launch of a Municipal Waste
Compost Program in Uganda, the first African country to successfully
register a Program of Activities (POA) under the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Uganda POA is the first of its kind in
the world, and promotes solid waste composting in urban areas, a system
that, unlike landfills, returns organic matter to the soil, prevents
land degradation, and significantly reduces methane emissions. A total
of 156,889 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) and 52,296 Verified
Emission Reductions (VERs) will be sold to the World Bank's Community
Development Carbon Fund. [World
Bank press release]
JULY 2010
GEF Supports Caribbean
MPA Project
July 2010: The Global
Environment Facility (GEF) has agreed to support the protection and
sustainable use of the marine resources of the Seaflower Marine
Protected Area (MPA). The project, "Protecting Biodiversity in the
Southwestern Caribbean Sea," is implemented by the Inter-American
Development Bank (IADB) and executed by the Corporation for the
Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence
and Santa Catalina (CORALINA). It comprises four components: adaptive
management; financial sustainability; alternative livelihoods; and
monitoring and analysis. [GEF
press release, July 2010]
MAY 2010
World Bank Appoints Special Envoy for Climate
Change
Robert Zoellick, World Bank President, announced the appointment of
Andrew Steer as Special Envoy for Climate Change, a new position created
for focused leadership and representation of the World Bank in the
international climate change discussions. [World
Bank press release]
WORLD BANK APPROVES
FIRST DEVELOPMENT POLICY LOAN FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
25 May 2010: The World Bank
has approved its first development policy loan dedicated to climate
change mitigation and adaptation, in Indonesia. The US$200 million loan
is designed to support the Indonesian Government in its efforts to adopt
a lower carbon, more climate-resilient growth path, and focuses on
mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; enhancing adaptation and
resiliency efforts in key sectors; and strengthening the institutions
and policies needed for a successful climate change response.
World Bank press release.
MAY 2010
EIB LAUNCHES "INTERACT CLIMATE CHANGE FUND," ISSUES CLIMATE AWARENESS
BONDS
The European Investment Bank
(EIB), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Development
Finance Institutions (EDFI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to
establish the "Interact Climate Change Fund," an investment matching
facility to fund private sector climate change projects in Africa, the
Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), Asia and Latin America before the end
of 2010.
In other news, the EIB and
Daiwa Securities Group announced the issuance of Climate Awareness Bonds
to finance the EIB's future lending projects in the fields of renewable
energy and energy efficiency. The proceeds of this new EIB bond issue
will be dedicated to future lending projects on: renewable energy, such
as wind, hydro, solar and geothermal energy production; and energy
efficiency, such as district heating, co-generation, building
insulation, energy-loss reduction in transmission and distribution, and
equipment replacement with energy efficiency improvements of 20% or
more.
Link to further
information
EIB press release,
7 May 2010
EIB press release, 30 April 2010
FOURTH GEF ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS IDENTIFY CLIMATE TIPPING POINTS
The Global Environment
Facility (GEF) has published documents for the Fourth GEF Assembly,
including a report of its Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP),
which highlights that climate change is "even more dangerous than
previously expected" and identifies a series of climate change tipping
points (GEF/A.4/3).
Other documents include the
GEF Fourth Overall Performance Study (GEF/A.4/4) and an introduction to
the topics of roundtable discussions that will take place during the
Assembly, which will take place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 24-28
May 2010 (GEF/A.4/Inf.2).
Link to further
information
Fourth GEF Assembly documents
APRIL 2010
GEF FINANCES
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT IN ALEXANDRIA
The World Bank has approved a project on
sustainable coastal zone management in Alexandria, in particular to
reduce land-based pollution to the Mediterranean Sea. Among its project
activities, the US$7.15 million Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant
will finance pilot measures to reduce land-based sources of pollution
entering Lake Mariout and subsequently the Mediterranean Sea.
Link to further information
World Bank
press release, 29 April 2010
GEF SGP SUPPORTS GREENING
ARMENIA'S HOUSING SECTOR
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small
Grants Programme (SGP) is piloting a residential project to showcase
renewable energy and energy efficiency practices in apartment buildings
in Armenia. Specifically, the project supports the installation of
energy efficient (EE) doors and windows, EE lighting systems and solar
hot water and heating systems. It has already produced tangible results,
with a 40% reduction in the consumption of natural gas by residents and
a 10% reduction in electricity use. It is envisaged that by the end of
the project in August 2010, reduction of CO2 emissions will reach about
62 tones. The GEF SGP has provided US$30,970 to the project, which has
strategic importance for Armenia, a country with no domestic sources of
fossil fuel and an immense potential for development of alternative
energy resources use and EE technologies in the housing sector. The
direct beneficiaries of the project are 15 households and 3 public
service facilities located in the pilot building.
In other GEF SGP news, on 27 March 2010,
China officially became one of the countries implementing SGP projects.
In 2009, China announced its first call for proposals for SGP grants,
receiving 156 proposals within a 30 day period. The National Steering
Committee of SGP China approved 22 projects, which encompass all of
GEF's six focal areas.
Links to further information
GEF press
release
GEF Small Grants
Programme
China SGP
News
NEW ADAPTATION FUND
WEBSITE LAUNCHED
The Adaptation Fund has launched a new
version of its website. The website can be accessed at the same URL
and features several new user-specific sections. Among the new sections
are the list of national and multilateral implementing entities so far
accredited by the Adaptation Fund Board, and communications from the
Board to the parties, such as the recently issued call for project and
programme proposals.
Links to further information
Adaptation Fund web site
RSS feed
WORLD BANK OPENS
DATABASE WITH MORE THAN 2000 INDICATORS
The World Bank has opened a database with
more than 2000 indicators from developing economies, including many
indicators that go back 50 years. As part of its open
data initiative, the Bank launched, on 22 April 2010, data.worldbank.org,
a website that provides free, open and easy access to statistics and
indicators about development. Visitors to the site can find, download,
manipulate, use and re-use the data compiled by the World Bank, without
restrictions. The new open data initiative coincides with the release of
the World Development Indicators (WDI) 2010, one of the Bank's most
popular statistical resources.
Link to further information
World Bank Open Data web site
MARCH 2010
IMF
CHIEF SUPPORTS GREEN FUND
Dominique Strauss-Kahn,
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), took part in
a panel discussion at the Kenya International Conference Center in
Nairobi, and explained that the IMF is working on the idea of a "Green
Fund" with the capacity to raise US$100 billion a year by 2020. He
further clarified that the IMF does not intend to manage such a fund,
but presents the idea as the UN High-Level Advisory Group on Climate
Change Financing is about to begin its work.
Link to further
information
IMF press release, 8 March 2010
WORLD BANK ANNOUNCES FIRST LARGE-SCALE FOREST CDM PROJECT REGISTERED IN
AFRICA
The World Bank has
presented Africa's first large-scale forestry project to be registered
under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Humbo
Assisted Natural Regeneration Project will bring environmental, economic
and social benefits to poor communities in Ethiopia and is expected to
cut an estimated 880,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere over the next 30 years. The sale of carbon credits under the
BioCarbon Fund will provide an income stream of over US$700,000 to the
local communities over a minimum of ten years.
Link to additional
information
World Bank press release, 3 March 2010
RAMSAR SIGNS
MOU WITH WORLD BANK
On 16 February 2010, Anada Tiéga, Ramsar
Secretary General, and Hartwig Schafer, Acting Vice President,
Sustainable Development Network, World Bank, signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) that aims to "establish a framework of cooperation
between Ramsar and the World Bank in exchange of technical expertise and
capacity building related to the development and implementation of
climate change projects in wetlands in the context of the World
Bank-financed climate change portfolio." According to the MoU, the
Ramsar Secretariat will: provide technical support for the assessment,
formulation, and development of climate change projects in wetlands in
the geographical areas of wetland projects in the World Bank portfolio;
assist in the development of tools and methodologies to assess the
magnitude of carbon sinks in mangroves; support the development of the
wetlands typology and protocol for assessing net carbon storage or
carbon dioxide emissions under different conditions; and prepare jointly
publications on the findings of the cooperation.
Link to further information
The
MoU
WTO SEEKS
COMMENTS ON REPORT ON TRADE IN NATURAL RESOURCES
The World Trade Organization
(WTO) is providing a discussion forum for stakeholders to present
opinions on trade in natural resources, and has invited comments on two
online articles on: trade and deforestation; and the relation between
international trade and freshwater scarcity. Comments will be taken into
account in the World Trade Report, an annual publication that aims to
deepen understanding about trends in trade, trade policy issues and the
multilateral trading system. The theme of the next edition, to be
published in July 2010, is "Trade in Natural Resources: Challenges in
Global Governance."
Link to further information
The
reports and discussion forum
FEBRUARY 2010
GEF HIGHLIGHTS
CROP BIODIVERSITY PROJECT SUCCESS IN GEORGIA
The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
featured the results of a project implemented with farmers in Georgia to
reclaim forgotten crop varieties and landraces to diversify their
agricultural production. The project has established a seed
multiplication system to encourage local farmers to use and sow local
landraces and by 2009, 28 land-races and varieties (52% of all known for
Georgia) were being used for subsistence production, and seven land
races (13% of all landraces) were in commercial use. Among the results
of the project are: more than 80% of households are reporting higher
pulse diversity on-farm, diversification of the family diet, and higher
nutrition levels; the revived landraces and local varieties have
demonstrated a much higher resistance to droughts, pests and harsh
winters; and sales revenue for the farmers is rising with further
financial returns gained through almost zero application of chemical
fertilizers.
Links to further information
GEF press release, 9 February 2010
ADB SUPPORTS PROJECTS TO
ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES IN ASIA
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is
financing a series of studies and projects on climate change in Asia.
Together with the United Kingdom it will fund a US$1.2 million study to
help South Asia analyze the costs and benefits of climate change
adaptation actions, through a study on "Regional Economics of Climate
Change in South Asia Part II: Adaptation and Impact Assessment." A
climate policy simulation tool will be developed for policy makers in
the region to show the economic consequences of different climate policy
measures.
The ADB is also providing support to
several projects, including an evaluation of the potential to reduce
greenhouse gases in five energy-intensive industries, namely iron and
steel, power generation, chemicals, building materials and non-ferrous
metals in the Yunnan Province, China. It will also fund the
establishment and feasibility studies for large-scale concentrated solar
thermal plants in China. Together with the Government of Japan, ADB will
also strengthen the capacity of Bhutan's National Environment Commission
for developing mitigation and adaptation measures that can counter
climate change by promoting hydropower and other renewable energy
projects suitable for participating in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
under the Kyoto Protocol, and for potential carbon trading. With the
Government of Australia, ADB will also provide funding to assess climate
change threats and adaptation needs in the Mekong Delta region in Viet
Nam.
Links to further information
ADB press release, 4 February 2010
ADB press release, 13 January 2010
ADB press release, 21 January 2010
ADB press release, 25 January 2010
ADB press release, 29 January 2010
WORLD BANK REPORTS ON PROGRESS MADE IN BUILDING
HEALTH CLINICS AND WATER PUMPS IN KOSOVO
The World Bank has reported on some 320
projects it has been involved with under the Community Development Fund
(CDF) project in Kosovo from 2001-2008. The projects aim to increase the
quantity and quality of infrastructure and services in poor and
conflict-affected communities, as well as the most vulnerable groups,
and to promote local capacity building including participation and
empowerment. The CDF financed the rehabilitation of the water system
and, according to a review carried out by the CDF in consultation with
stakeholders, a direct outcome of the CDF's water supply projects has
been a dramatic reduction of waterborne diseases. In addition, the water
supply systems financed by the project have eliminated time and effort
in carrying water.
Link to further information
World Bank press release, February 2010
UNEP CONVENES
WORKSHOP ON GREEN ECONOMY REPORT
The UN Environment Programme
convened a workshop on the Green Economy Report (GER) from 17-18
November 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland. The Green Economy Initiative (GEI)
seeks to mobilize the global economy towards investments in key sectors
of the economy and in "natural" infrastructure such as forests and
soils. The GER, a key component of the GEI, will seek to make a
macroeconomic case for increasing public and private investments in
"green sectors." At the workshop, the coordinating authors and
contributors presented the progress made and discussed pending issues.
The report is expected to be finalized in June 2010 (IISD RS sources).
JANUARY 2010
GEF HIGHLIGHTS SUCCESS OF
PROTECTED AREAS IN NAMIBIA IN RAISING REVENUES
The Global Environment Facility (GEF),
through UNDP, has funded a project to evaluate the contribution of
protected areas to the Namibian economy and to strengthen Namibia's
protected areas systems. A comprehensive analysis of the protected area
system indicated that protected areas contributed 3.1-6.3% of the
country's GDP through park based tourism only, without including other
ecosystem services values, and the economic rate of return on the
government investment over 20 years was as much as 23% if the tourism
concession potential is fully realized. Using these study results, the
Government increased the annual budget for park management and
development by 300% in the last four years. The Ministry of Finance also
agreed to earmark 25% of the park entrance revenue to be reinvested in
park and wildlife management through a trust fund, providing up to US$2
million in additional sustainable financing per year.
Link to further information
GEF press release, 26 January 2010
CLIMATE INVESTMENT FUNDS EXTEND FUNDS TO
EXPRESS INTEREST IN FOREST PILOT PROJECTS
The Carbon Investment Funds (CIF) have
announced the extension of a deadline, to 1 February 2010, for eligible
countries to submit expressions of interest to participate in the first
projects to be funded by the Forest Investment Program (FIP). An Expert
Group will be invited to recommend five pilots to the Sub-Committee and
a list of up to three additional countries to be considered should funds
become available to finance additional pilots or should some of the
selected pilots prove not to be feasible.
Link to further information
FIP
pilot programs
WORLD BANK LAUNCHES GREEN BONDS FOR
JAPANESE INVESTORS TO FINANCE LOW-CARBON PROJECTS
The World Bank and Daiwa Securities Group
announced the issuance of green bonds to support projects for low-carbon
development, designed specifically for investors in Japan. World Bank
green bonds support World Bank-funded projects that are designed to
tackle the causes and consequences of climate change in the developing
world. The types of projects that may be supported by these bonds
include alternative energy installations, funding for new technologies
that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reforestation, watershed
management and flood protection. To date, the World Bank has issued the
equivalent of approximately US$960 million of green bonds.
Link to further information
World Bank
press release
WORLD BANK SEEKS INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTALLY
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PATH
The World Bank issued a discussion paper,
and is seeking comments, on Monitoring and Reporting on Financial Flows
Related to Climate Change. The discussion paper first focuses on
tracking, monitoring and reporting various types of flows and then looks
at possible ways of tracking additionality in ODA flows only, with the
aim of stimulating the discussion within the World Bank Group and its
partners on this issue.
The study on monitoring financial flows for
climate change has been prepared by World Bank staff in consultation
with UNFCCC and OECD. Feedback and comments are requested by 9 February
2010, and should be sent to ahuhtala@worldbank.org.
Link to further information
Monitoring and
reporting on financial flows related to climate change
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