World Bank

Accounting for nantural capital
Strong support for natural capital accounting at Rio+20
CleanBiz.Asia Staff
June 22, 2012
Over fifty countries and 86 private companies have joined forces behind the move to factor the value of natural assets like clean air, clean water, forests and other ecosystems into business decision-making and countries systems of national accounting. Fifty-seven countries and the European Commission are supporting a communiqué that calls on governments, the UN system, international financial institutions and other international organizations to strengthen the implementation of natural capital accounting around the world.
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Vietnamese on board with World Bank’s Eco2 Cities program
A translation of the book on Eco2 Cities, which provide a detailed explanation the concepts and strategies of the World Bank’s Eco2 Cities program, has been released Vietnam.
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EU leads as global carbon market hits record $176 bln
Carbon market trading reached a record value of USD176 billion in 2011, rising 11 percent spurred by secondary trading volumes that offset lower prices and slowing economies, the World Bank said yesterday. Companies and governments are turning to emissions trading as a tool for fighting climate change, with the EU the most active since its cap-and-trade scheme began in 2005.
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World bank urges governments to embrace sustainable growth path
The World Bank today released a report urging governments to think green when pursing growth policies, which can be inclusive, efficient, affordable and above all necessary to sustain economic expansion in years ahead.
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India’s IFC-backed rooftop solar pilot expanded to 5 more cities
The World Bank’s IFC is supporting the Indian state of Gujarat to replicate a rooftop solar project first completed in Gandhinagar to five more cities, improving access to power and reducing air pollution from the burning of wood and fossil fuels.
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World Bank's China cities report
China must act fast to clean up sprawling cities says World Bank
Several major Chinese cities have some of the world's highest per capita carbon footprints, a World Bank warned in a new report issued on Thursday. According to a story in the China Daily, greenhouse gas emissions in Tianjin, Shanghai and Beijing far exceed those of cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London, Barcelona and Jakarta the report stated. Globally, most urban emissions come from transport, buildings and waste, but these three sectors only account for about 20 percent of China's urban emissions which are driven mainly by industry and power generation, largely because of its reliance on coal for energy.
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Forest crime
World Bank report zeros in illegal logging’s dirty money
CleanBiz.Asia Staff
March 21, 2012
Every two seconds, an area of forest the size of a football field is clear-cut by illegal loggers around the globe, but a new World Bank report shows how countries can effectively fight illegal logging through the criminal justice system, punish organized crime, and trace and confiscate illegal logging profits. The report, Justice for Forests: Improving Criminal Justice Efforts to Combat Illegal Logging, says that to be effective, law enforcement needs to look past low-level criminals and look at where the profits from illegal logging go.
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Asian cities head global list of flood vulnerability
The rapid growth of cities across the developing world has resulted in urban areas overtaking rural communities as being the most vulnerable to wide scale flooding, according to a report from the World Bank.
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World Bank dipping into the oceans
Zoellick launches Global Oceans Partnership
CleanBiz.Asia Staff
February 27, 2012
A coalition of governments, international organizations, civil society groups and private interests are joining together under the banner of a Global Partnership for Oceans to confront widely-documented problems of over-fishing, marine degradation, and habitat loss. The alliance was announced by outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick at the World Oceans Summit, organized by The Economist, in Singapore on Friday. In his keynote speech Zoellick said as much as USD1.5 billion would be pledged to the ocean protection and management initiative over five years.
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Himachal Pradesh aims to be India's 1st carbon-neutral state
The Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is undertaking a "carbon-smart” growth strategy in order to become carbon neutral by 2020 according to its chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.
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