The objective of this Country
Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to highlight the underlying
challenges and opportunities for Indonesia's
environment and management of its natural resources in order
to guide the World Bank support to Indonesian institutions
for more sustainable development. Rather, the CEA sets the
broader context (chapter one) and economic costs of
environmental degradation (chapter two) in order to identify

Trade policy reforms in recent decades
have sharply reduced the distortions that were harming
agriculture in developing countries, yet global trade in
farm products continues to be far more distorted than trade
in nonfarm goods. Those distortions reduce some forms of
poverty and inequality but worsen others, so the net effects
are unclear without empirical modeling. This paper
summarizes a series of new economy-wide global and national

Global climate change is occurring at an
accelerating pace, and the global greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions that are forcing climate change continue to
increase. Given the present pace of international actions,
it seems unlikely that atmospheric composition can be
stabilized at a level that will avoid "dangerous
anthropogenic interference" with the climate system, as
called for in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In the urban planning literature, it is
frequently explicitly asserted or strongly implied that
ongoing urban sprawl and decentralization can lead to
development patterns that are unsustainable in the long run.
One manifestation of such an outcome is that if extensive
road investments occur, urban sprawl and decentralization
are advanced and locked-in, making subsequent investments in
public transit less effective in reducing vehicle kilometers

Using a nested multinomial logit model
of car ownership and personal travel in Beijing circa 2005,
this paper compares the effectiveness of different policy
instruments to reduce traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.
The study shows that a congestion toll is more efficient
than a fuel tax in reducing traffic congestion, whereas a
fuel tax is more effective as a policy instrument for
reducing gasoline consumption and emissions. An improvement

This study examines impacts on net
social benefits or economic welfare of alternative policy
instruments for reducing traffic congestion and atmospheric
emissions in São Paulo, Brazil. The study shows that
expanding road networks, subsidizing public transit, and
improving automobile fuel economy may not be as effective as
suggested by economic theories because these policies could
cause significant rebound effects. Although pricing

The 2009 edition of the little green
data book includes a focus section, four introductory pages
that focus on a specific issue related to development and
the environment. This year the focus is on urban areas and
the environment, exploring how cities and climate change are
affecting the way we live and how good public policies can
improve prospects for future generations. Urbanization and
economic growth move in tandem. As emerging market economies

The name Tanzania is a portmanteau of
Tanganyika, the mainland, and Zanzibar, the nearby
archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The two united to become
the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. With a surface area
of 947,300 square kilometers, Tanzania is comparable in size
to Nigeria and is slightly more than twice the size of the
U.S. state of California. Tanzania's population of
approximately 40.4 million (as of 2007) is the second

Poor governance is a major impediment to
achieving development outcomes of the forest sector. It
results in losses of income, employment, government
revenues, and local and global environmental services.
However, at present, no comprehensive guide to reforming
forest governance has been developed. Although usually it is
relatively easy to recognize that the forest sector in a
country is failing to deliver all its potential benefits,

This study analyzes a range of energy
efficiency options available in Mexico, including
supply-side efficiency improvements in the electric power
and oil and gas industries and demand-side electricity
efficiency measures to limit high-growth energy-consuming
activities, such as air conditioning and refrigeration. It
also evaluates a range of renewable energy options that make
use of the country's vast wind, solar, biomass, hydro,

Albania is among the most vulnerable
countries to external energy shocks and climatic conditions,
because of its high dependency on hydropower for
electricity. Given highly volatile international energy
prices and expected global warming, it is becoming
increasingly important to manage the demand for electricity.
However, the country has long been faced with a significant
problem of electricity metering. About one-third of total

Although much has been written about
climate change and poverty as distinct and complex problems,
the link between them has received little attention.
Understanding this link is vital for the formulation of
effective policy responses to climate change. This paper
focuses on agriculture as a primary means by which the
impacts of climate change are transmitted to the poor, and
as a sector at the forefront of climate change mitigation