In 1990, facing a public health crisis, Mexico City initiated its first multiyear air quality management strategy, significantly reducing lead and sulfur emissions. These results were driven by a regional-focused approach, key regulatory reforms, and investments in data monitoring – all geared toward ensuring sustained and measurable impact.
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Last month, I sat in a room in Lyon, France, alongside President Macron, health ministers, and global leaders for the G7 One Health Summit. One thing kept coming up in the room and across the two-day summit, panel after panel, in the corridors, and over dinner in Lyon and beyond: the link between development and security.
It is a link that I have been thinking about for years, and one that I believe is becoming the defining argument of our time for why development finance matters.
Continue readingThere is a bridge in northeastern Madagascar that you probably haven’t heard of, yet it probably has brought some joy into your life. It is about 140 meters long, with a three-meter-wide traffic lane and a one-meter-wide sidewalk. By any global measure, it is unremarkable. No tourists photograph it. It is not the kind of place that shows up on Instagram feeds, and no travel guidebook mentions it.
“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”
The global race for minerals and metals is accelerating. As urbanization, agriculture, digitalization, and energy needs intensify worldwide, demand for these minerals could double by 2040. For resource-rich developing countries, this is a major opportunity — not only to supply global markets, but also to create jobs, build industries, and strengthen economic resilience at home.
Continue reading“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”
WASHINGTON, May 27, 2026, Municipalities and waste management companies can use digital tools to improve service reliability, reduce operating costs, strengthen recycling systems, and make better investment decisions, according to a new World Bank Group report, Waste, Reimagined: Practical Guidance for Digitalizing Waste Management.
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In Cairo, every September, families close their windows, parents worry about their children’s coughs, and outdoor workers brace themselves for weeks of heavy haze and burning smells. The annual Black Cloud season, stretching from September to December, had become part of life in Egypt’s capital. During this season, emissions from open burning of rice stubble routinely adds to those from solid waste burning, transportation, and industry, driving air pollution to dangerous levels.
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Dutch entrepreneurs looking to expand globally through International Financial Institutions (IFIs), the strategic partnership between the RVO Team International Organisations (TIO) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Washington D.C. (WAS) offers a vital support network. TIO serves as the primary point of contact for initial advice on a wide range of institutions—including the IADB, ADB, AfDB, and UN—while the WAS team specializes in providing in-depth guidance for DC-based organizations like the World Bank Group and IADB. Together, they ensure that the Dutch private sector is well-positioned to navigate the complex landscape of international procurement and partnership.
Continue reading“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”
Netherlands for the World Bank 