Worldwide, about 1.6 billion people lack
access to electricity services. There are also large
populations without access in the poorer countries of Asia
and Latin America, as well as in the rural and peri-urban
areas of middle income countries. However large-scale
electrification programs that is currently underway in
middle income countries and the poor countries of Asia will
increase household electricity access more rapidly than in

Carbon Finance Assist (CF-Assist) is a
capacity building and technical assistance program
established by the World Bank to help develop national
capacities of developing countries on carbon finance and
clean development mechanism (CDM) activities. The objective
of the mission is to develop CDM Program of Activities
(PoA), based on a programmatic approach for CDM Project
Activities (CPA) in solid waste sector in Morocco. More

Ecuador is a country with exceptional
natural resource and environmental advantages and
challenges. It is strategically located and has considerable
oil reserves in the interior and the coastal region. This
document does not aim to describe the state of the
environment in Ecuador. Rather, its main objective is to
provide an analytical foundation to identify the
country's institutional weaknesses and provide

The proposed methodology begins with a
consistent downscaling of projected climatic changes from a
multiplicity of General Circulation to local levels. Subsets
of the suite of downscaled climatic factors are then to be
used to estimate the vector of impacts on key economic
sectors of each country, using sector-specific impact
assessment models. Based on this information, alternative
government adaptation projects will be specified and

Traditionally both national and regional
development planning in Vietnam has been driven by
'top-down' Central Government social and economic
targets based on limited analytical investigation. However,
with the advent of the free market economy in Vietnam since
the late 1980s, vigorous global economic competitiveness and
Vietnam's membership to the World Trade Organization
(WTO), changes in national policy in Vietnam have now

Poland has by far the highest hard coal
production of any country in the European Union and hard
coal will continue to play a crucial role regarding energy
security for Poland. Most importantly, hard coal can reduce
both the price and supply risks for Poland associated with
oil and gas imports. Poland has a number of low cost mines
with good quality coal where production can be expanded so
that it is feasible for coal to meet domestic demand without

This report is part of a broader global
study, the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change (EACC),
which has two principal objectives: (a) to develop a global
estimate of adaptation costs for informing international
climate negotiations; and (b) to help decision makers in
developing countries assess the risks posed by climate
change and design national strategies for adapting to it.
The purpose of this study is to assist the Government of

The results of the alpha survey on
administrative barriers completed in 2006 indicate that,
notwithstanding recent government reforms to reduce
regulations affecting firms, administrative burdens are
still substantial impediments to doing business. Based on
the survey, the Bulgarian Government has commissioned an
in-depth analysis of the procedure affecting three sectors:
tourism, food, and transport. This report recommends the

Cities represent a major contributor of
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the United
Nations Population Fund,1 half of the world's
population now lives in cities and is responsible for 75% of
global energy use and GHG emissions. Since the world's
population will continue to grow, and rapid urbanization
will continue particularly in the developing world, tackling
climate change issues in the urban context will be

This project combines efforts of Canadian civil society and Nigerian communities to better understand the Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) process to further environmental sustainability in forest dependent communities. The research project documented from the perspective of forest communities in Cross River State, the minimum set of rules for any effective REDD scheme to enhance livelihoods of poor communities using forest resources in West Africa.

The present study reports on the
Government of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau's efforts
to develop a comprehensive strategy for enhancing land
rights security and achieving social and economic
development objectives. This report is divided into two main
parts. The first part summarizes the current state of
development of the government s land policy, as well as the
legal and traditional framework existing for land tenure

This year's edition of the little green data book includes a focus story on oceans and its ecosystem services, as well as estimates of global marine fisheries wealth accounts, a first step in capturing the value of this important resource stock. A new set of ocean-related indicators are also introduced, highlighting the role of oceans in economic development and providing policy makers the information to make better decisions for the sustainable management of oceans.