After years of strong performance in the
run-up to the European Union (EU) accession, Bulgaria’s
growth has slowed down and poverty remains the highest in
the EU. Bulgaria achieved the highest recorded growth rates
between 2000-08 on the back of exceptionally high capital
inflows, structural reforms, sound fiscal management and the
prospects of EU accession. Employment boomed and poverty
fell steeply. Since 2008 – the year of global economic

This issue includes the following
headings: Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods in
Bangladesh; Natural Disasters and Household Well-Being; Road
Improvement and Deforestation, Pathways toward Zero-Carbon
Electricity; The Need for Broader Information in Climate
Change Assessment; Effectiveness of Protected Areas; and
Vulnerability to Malnutrition in the West African Sahel

The World Bank (WB) supports the global
reporting initiative (GRI) and is one of the GRI chapter
groups of founding members. The topics deemed relevant for
disclosure were identified by assessing annual corporate
priorities outlined by the institutions’ Boards and
President, considering stakeholder input, as well as
ascertaining sustainability impacts of carrying out the
mission and vision. To determine if a GRI aspect is material

In past four years, the World Bank, in
close cooperation with the Government of Zimbabwe, and the
support of international partners - has carried out a number
of studies and technical assistance activities in key areas
of the socio-economic recovery. In line with Bank’s Africa
strategy of fostering Africa’s economic transformation and
poverty reduction, the overall goal of these studies has
been to support broad-based development of Zimbabwe by

The World Bank Group was a principal founding partner of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in its pilot phase in 1991, and of the restructured GEF in 1994. The Bank plays three different roles in the GEF: (a) as trustee of the GEF and related trust funds, (b) as implementing agency, including the implementation of private-sector GEF projects by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and (c) as the host organization of the functionally independent GEF secretariat.

This technical note provides an overview
for authorities who wish to conduct flood hazard and risk
assessments and who must develop a step-by-step plan for
carrying out the assessment that is appropriate and feasible
in the local context. It is important to keep in mind,
however, that many aspects of flood hazard and risk
assessment requires specific expertise and experience. It is
not advisable to conduct these assessments if your team

This report summarizes the knowledge
shared and issues raised during a conference convened by the
World Bank on the above topic held on November 3-5, 2014 in
Manila, Philippines. Building on earlier conferences on this
topic, the conference aimed to raise awareness about, and
share good practice on, building a social protection system
that integrates disaster risk management and climate change
adaptation. It brought together 17 country delegations from

Road networks are essential for
economic, social, environmental, and security reasons. Road
networks are therefore considered critical networks
according to the consequences of their disruptions (Tacnet
and Mermet 2012). Flooding poses an important threat to
roads, and can lead to massive obstruction of traffic and
damage to road structures, with possible long-term effects
(Buren and Buma 2012). Flooding leads to significant repair

Agriculture remains vital to the economy of most African countries and its development

has significant implications for food security and poverty reduction in the region. Increase

in agricultural production over the past decades has mainly been due to land area expansion,

with very little change in production techniques and limited improvement in yields.

Currently one in four people remains malnourished in Africa. CSA integrates all three dimensions of sustainable development and is aimed at (1)

The country’s forest areas occupy 21.7
million ha (approximately 27.6 percent of its total surface
area), and are inhabited by close to 10 percent of its total
population. The forest sector generates a variety of timber
and non-timber products and eco-services. The Turkish
government has put great effort into reforestation and
forest management, increasing the total area of forests. In
their tenth national development plan (2014-2018), the

Mauritania is a vast country covering
over a million square kilometers, where a relatively small
population of 3.5 million people lives on just one-fifth of
the country’s total area. With extremely advanced
desertification, the country is particularly vulnerable to
the impact of climate change and other external shocks. The
main sources of income in Mauritania are agriculture, which
is either irrigated or rain-fed, and livestock. This is

The report aims to help improve the productivity and resilience of the current food system, and to make agriculture part of the solution to climate change. It presents compelling evidence and new tools for policymakers, serving as a guide to better address the impacts of a warming climate on agriculture and food production. This report argues that climate-smart agriculture is central to efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity.