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

In the last 10 years, World Bank
activity in the fisheries sector of the Pacific Islands
region has been limited to two regional economic reports, a
study of coastal resources management, and a few technical
assistance missions. The purpose of this study was to
conduct a brief internal review of the Pacific fisheries
sectors past performances, based on the existing literature
and experience of the individuals involved. The

This report addresses the issues
associated with trade in liquid biofuels is a second Energy
Sector Management Assistance Program report on biofuels, and
part of a broader assessment of bioenergy undertaken by the
World Bank. The report asks how liberalizing trade in liquid
biofuels might affect biofuel production and consumption.
Bioenergy is playing an increasingly important role as an
alternative and renewable source of energy. Bioenergy

Previous Ricardian analyses of
agriculture have either omitted irrigation or treated
irrigation as though it is exogenous. In practice, it is a
choice by farmers that is sensitive to climate. This paper
develops a choice model of irrigation in the context of a
Ricardian model of cropland. The authors examine how climate
affects the decision to use irrigation and then how climate
affects the net revenues of dryland and irrigated land. This

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

India's Northeastern Region
consists of eight states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura
-- occupying 262,179 square kilometers and with a population
of 39 million (2001 census). This report has come about at
the request of the Indian Government for the World Bank to
focus more of its attention on the Northeastern Region in
order to support poverty reduction and development in the

Costa Rica's Program of Payments
for Environmental Services (Pago de Servicios Ambientales,
PSA) provides a unique opportunity to evaluate direct
payments as a conservation policy tool. This paper reports
evidence on how much more forest has been conserved in Costa
Rica as a result of PSA contracts with landowners. Such
evidence requires estimating a counterfactual outcome: how
much forest would have been preserved if there had been no

This paper uses quantitative methods to
examine the way African farmers have adapted livestock
management to the range of climates found across the African
continent. The authors use logit analysis to estimate
whether farmers adopt livestock. They then use three
econometric models to examine which species farmers choose:
a primary choice multinomial logit, an optimal portfolio
multinomial logit, and a demand system multivariate probit.

Carbon transactions are defined as purchase contracts or ERPAs (Emission Reductions Purchase Agreements) whereby one party pays another party in return for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions that the buyer can use to meet its compliance or corporate citizenship - objectives vis-a-vis GHG mitigation. Payment is made using one or more of the following forms: cash, equity, debt, or in-kind contributions.

Highlights the plight of Pacific Islanders due to rising sea levels and storm surges and the message they brought to the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali.

The main objective of the Country
Environmental Analysis (CEA) in Nepal is to identify
opportunities for enhancing the overall performance of
select environmental management systems through improvements
in the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and
processes. CEA has been built upon the following three
primary study components: (a) an examination of the
environmental issues associated with infrastructure

In this issue: what constrains
Africaapos;s exports? Focus; economic shocks and labor
market outcomes; why have developing-country data on real
incomes been revised so much? What does the financial crisis
teach us about different banking models? Density and
disasters: economics of urban hazard risk; and how financial
crises in donor countries affect aid.