At a Glance · Climate change is at the forefront of thinking and operations at the World Bank Group – with close to 90 percent of new country assistance and partnership strategies emphasizing climate action. · A new Environment Strategy for the Bank Group is being finalized and is expected to be available for public comment in late 2011. · The Bank is working to protect forests, landscapes, and seascapes around the world through a number of global partnerships.
“Greening” our portfolio
Environmental and natural resource management activities are increasingly being integrated into World Bank sectoral (agriculture, water sanitation, urban, etc.) projects. In the fiscal year 2011, the World Bank approved 99 environment and natural resource management projects, amounting to $6.1 billion in commitments. The largest lending operation with an environmental theme approved in FY11 was the Energy Efficiency Development Policy Loan in Poland, totaling $1.1 billion. The project supports the Government’s drive to reduce emissions by accelerating energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energy. A new environment strategy for the World Bank Group
Since the first World Bank Environment Strategy in 2001, the demand from developing countries to find ways to grow and develop more sustainably has increased significantly. In response, a new Bank Group Environment Strategy is being drafted jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). This has involved extensive consultations with global stakeholders. The World Bank’s Committee on Development Effectiveness is expected to discuss the draft strategy in the second half of 2011. WAVES: a new partnership that values ecosystem services The Bank has embarked on a new global partnership called WAVES: Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services. WAVES aims to promote sustainable development through comprehensive wealth accounting focusing on the value of natural capital and the integration of “green accounting” into national accounts. Feasibility and planning studies are being conducted in the partner countries of Colombia, India, Madagascar, Mexico, the Philippines, and Uganda. Supporting biodiversity through partnerships
The World Bank helps to protect forests, landscapes, and seascapes around the world, often in partnership with other organizations. Among them: · The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), a partnership with Japan, the Global Environment Facility, Conservation International, the French Development Agency, and the Bank provides grants for non-governmental and private sector organizations to support key biodiversity areas inside protected areas and across production landscapes. To date, CEPF has raised over $233 million for projects in 53 countries. · The Save Our Species initiative seeks to leverage private sector and multi-stakeholder engagement to dramatically expand funding for threatened species. It was created by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with initial funding from the Bank, GEF, and the telecommunications company, Nokia. · The Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) aims to improve biodiversity management practices and skills through better conservation of wild tigers and their habitats. A heads-of-state summit of GTI partners held in Russia in November 2010 helped cement political commitments to tiger conservation at the highest levels of government. This political mandate is now being backed by conservation investments in tiger landscapes. Helping countries to manage pollution The Bank Group has been active in public and private sector pollution management for several decades. Our projects have improved the management of solid and hazardous waste and wastewater and helped control pollution related to transport, industry, energy, mining, and other sectors across many countries. In the Europe and Central Asia Region, legacy pollution is a major problem. As a result, the region has the largest pollution management program in the Bank. We are also supporting a global partnership to address legacy pollution and its health impacts affecting poor communities in priority countries. Climate change at the forefront of Bank operations
Climate change threatens to erode development gains in all regions of the world but its effect will be greatest on the poorest and most vulnerable countries. Supporting low-carbon and climate-resilient development has, therefore, moved to the forefront of Bank thinking and operations. Ninety percent of new country assistance and partnership strategies emphasize climate action. The Latin America and Caribbean Region, for example, has a portfolio of more than 180 country-led activities with climate change adaptation and mitigation co-benefits totaling more than $7.3 billion. Making development climate-resilient is also a priority in Sub-Saharan Africa. From addressing drought risk in Ethiopia ($175 million in funds from the International Development Association (IDA, the Bank’s fund for the poorest) to watershed management in Kenya and Malawi (a total of $75.5 million), Africa is rapidly increasing its efforts to grapple with development challenges in a changing climate. Climate Investment Funds
The Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) are a collaborative effort among five Multilateral Development Banks, developed and developing countries, and other stakeholders to bridge the financing and learning gaps for low-emissions and climate-resilient development. With $6.5 billion in donor pledges, the CIFs have stimulated new low-emission or climate-resilient work in 45 countries. Carbon finance for development From the pioneering work of the Prototype Carbon Fund, the first global carbon fund launched in 2000, carbon finance operations at the Bank have grown to $2.7 billion under management today, through 12 funds and facilities, of which $1.9 billion is committed to purchasing emissions reductions. In its second decade of carbon finance, the Bank continues to pilot innovative approaches and explore new opportunities through new facilities focusing on the post-2012 period. For example, the Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR), aiming at a capitalization of $100 million, was launched at the UN Climate Change conference in Cancun in December 2010. The PMR brings together developed and developing countries to foster innovative market instruments to lower greenhouse gas emissions, harness financial flows, and build market readiness capacity in countries. Mobilizing Global Environment Facility (GEF) resources
Over the GEF's 20-year history, the Bank Group has mobilized $4.5 billion from it to support over 700 client projects that address biodiversity conservation, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants, and ozone depleting substances. The Bank Group’s current GEF portfolio of $1.7 billion includes more than 220 active projects. For more information, please see: www.worldbank.org/environment Contacts: Elisabeth Mealey: (202) 458-4475, emealey@worldbank.org Robert Bisset: (202) 458-5191, rbisset@worldbank.org Updated August 2011 | 
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