The overall goal of the analysis
presented in this report is to advance the understanding and
integration in operational terms of environmental water
allocation into integrated water resources management. The
specific objectives of this report are the following: 1)
document the changing understanding of environmental flows,
by both water resources practitioners and by environmental
experts within the Bank and in borrowing countries; 2) draw

This year's annual review of
development effectiveness (ARDE) is being written against
the backdrop of a global financial crisis, declining growth,
and massive fiscal stimulus efforts to revitalize markets.
Demand for greater development support from the World Bank
has grown, along with concerns that resources be used
effectively and efficiently to achieve their development
objectives. This ARDE focuses on the Bank's performance

This report is the primary output from
the climate change impact and adaptation study for the
Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) produced for the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration (BMA) with financial support
provided by the World Bank. The report concerns climate
change, and provides an analysis of climate change impacts
and adaptation options for the BMR. In addition to the more
general matters on the physical setting and socioeconomics

This report is the primary output from
the climate change impact and adaptation study for the
Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) produced for the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration (BMA) with financial support
provided by the World Bank. The report concerns climate
change, and provides an analysis of climate change impacts
and adaptation options for the BMR. In addition to the more
general matters on the physical setting and socioeconomics

Many countries succeed in generating
high economic growth at some point in their history. But
only a very few manage to sustain rapid growth for an
extended period. Only such a prolonged period of rapid
growth can have a significant impact on income per capita,
and such an impact often brings with it many other important
changes to people's lives. Cambodia has more than
doubled its income per capita over the past decade, from

The price of oil could play a
significant role in influencing the expansion of biofuels.
However, this issue has not been fully investigated yet in
the literature. Using a global computable general
equilibrium model, this study analyzes the impact of oil
price on biofuel expansion, and subsequently, on food
supply. The study shows that a 65 percent increase in oil
price in 2020 from the 2009 level would increase the global

The spike in food prices between 2005
and the first half of 2008 has highlighted the
vulnerabilities of poor consumers to higher prices of
agricultural goods and generated calls for massive policy
action. This paper provides a formal assessment of the
direct and indirect impacts of higher prices on global
poverty using a representative sample of 63 to 93 percent of
the population of the developing world. To assess the direct

Many cities across Europe and Central
Asia are experiencing the impacts of climate change, but
most have not integrated climate adaptation into their
agendas. This paper examines the threats faced and measures
that can be taken by cities in the region to protect
buildings, heritage sites, municipal functions, and
vulnerable urban populations. In general, local governments
must be proactive in ensuring that existing buildings are

There is growing clamor in industrial
countries for additional border taxes on imports from
countries with lower carbon prices. The authors confirm the
findings of other research that unilateral emissions cuts by
industrial countries will have minimal carbon leakage
effects. However, output and exports of energy-intensive
manufactures are projected to decline potentially creating
pressure for trade action. A key factor affecting the impact

This evaluation is the first of a series
that seeks lessons from the World Bank Group's
experience on how to carve out a sustainable growth path.
The World Bank Group has never had an explicit corporate
strategy on climate change against which evaluative
assessments could be made. However, a premise of this
evaluation series is that many of the climate-oriented
policies and investments under discussion have close

The climate is changing; and the Europe
and Central Asia (ECA) region is vulnerable to the
consequences. Many of the region's countries are facing
warmer temperatures, a changing hydrology and more extremes,
droughts, floods, heat waves, windstorms, and forest fires.
Already the frequency and cost of natural disasters have
risen dramatically in the region. And the concentration of
greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere guarantees that

The World Bank's mission is to
alleviate poverty and support sustainable development.
Climate change is a serious environmental challenge that
could undermine these goals. Since the industrial
revolution, the mean surface temperature of earth has
increased an average 2 degree Celsius due to the
accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Most of
this change has occurred in the past 30 to 40 years, and the