This study, Indus basin of Pakistan: the
impacts of climate risks on water and agriculture was
undertaken at a pivotal time in the region. The weak summer
monsoon in 2009 created drought conditions throughout the
country. This followed an already tenuous situation for many
rural households faced with high fuel and fertilizer costs
and the impacts of rising global food prices. Then
catastrophic monsoon flooding in 2010 affected over 20

This report 'Turning the right
corner - ensuring development through a low carbon transport
sector' emphasizes that developing countries need to
transition to a low carbon transport sector now to avoid
locking themselves into an unsustainable and costly future.
Furthermore, it argues that this transition can be
affordable if countries combine policies to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions with broader sector reforms aimed

Four years have passed since the
Millennium Development Goals sharpened the focus on
measuring the results of development-not the number of
projects undertaken or the dollars spent, but the
improvements in people's lives. The emphasis on
quantitative targets and the requirement for monitoring
progress on country poverty reduction strategies have
increased the demand for statistics. And that showed us how

"From Vision to Action", the
Bank's previous rural development strategy launched in
1997, had a decisive influence on global thinking - but
disappointing results on the ground. In 2001, lending for
agricultural projects was the lowest in the Bank's
history. The new strategy is results oriented:
"Reaching the Rural Poor" stresses practice,
implementation, monitoring, and empowerment of the people it

The report outlines the work of the
World Bank in addressing client countries with environmental
challenges, and, aims to ensure the lending program
integrates principles of environmental sustainability. It
highlights that the challenge of development assistance lies
in working with clients to implement policies, programs, and
investments that distribute the gains of development in an
equitable manner, by reducing poverty, and avoiding

The chapters in this volume underscore
the transformative role of globalization and urbanization,
and show the interplay between these forces. Trade reform
and liberalized foreign investment regimess have contributed
to the spatial reallocation of economic activity toward
cities, especially those cities that can attract and nurture
human capital and strong connections to other markets.
Global factors have, therefore, reinforced agglomeration

The paper empirically explores the
linkages between environmental regulations and international
trade flows. So far, empirical studies either have failed to
find any close statistical relationship or have delivered
questionable results due to data limitations. Using a
comprehensive new database for environmental regulations
across countries, a thorough empirical investigation of that
linkage for 119 countries and five high-polluting industries

The authors explore the use of
cross-sectional analysis to measure the impacts of climate
change on agriculture. The impact literature, using
experiments on crops in laboratory settings combined with
simulation models, suggests that agriculture will be
strongly affected by climate change. The extent of these
effects varies by country and region. Therefore, local
experiments are needed for policy purposes, which becomes

This is the sixth edition of the World
Development Indicators in its current format, the 25th since
the World Bank began publishing a comprehensive set of
development indicators. It begins with a report on the
Millennium Development Goals, which set specific, measurable
targets for development in the early 21st century. To
measure progress, results have to be measured and for that
good statistics are needed. Most of the statistics in this

This is the fourth annual edition of the
World Bank's statistical reference. It provides an
expanded view of the world economy for 148 countries with
chapters focusing on world view, people, environment,
economy, states and markets, and global links as well as
introductions highlighting recent research on major
development issues. This edition includes some key
indicators for 1999. This report aims to make statistics

This environment strategy outlines the
current thinking in the World Bank Group Africa Region about
priorities and actions for the institution in the
environmental arena. The Africa Region Environment Strategy
(ARES) outlines the Bank's commitment to help its
clients achieve sustainable poverty reduction through better
environmental management. It identifies the most urgent
issues at the interface of environment and poverty and

The trends toward ecosystem degradation
and social change are affecting coastal areas around the
world, not least in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crisis affecting
this region's coastal and marine areas requires an
urgent and resolute response from the global community. This
report details the challenges facing coastal and marine
environments in Sub-Saharan Africa. It describes the World
Bank's strategy for supporting sustainable development