Monthly Archives: July 2023

IFC: Creating New Commercial Relationships in India

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Over one hundred participants converged in Mumbai for networking and to share lessonsindia learned from three years of TechEmerge sustainable cooling pilots. Leading corporates—including Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), Chalet Hotels, Tata Realty, and others—joined IFC India Country Head, Wendy Werner, and TechEmerge manager, Selcuk Tanatar, for a deep dive on the future of cooling and financing mechanisms to scale up these climate-smart solutions. A representative from our development partner, the UK’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, delivered opening remarks. The event also included the signing of an MoU among IFC, the Indian Institute for Technology in Jammu, and district-energy company Tabreed, our partner in the TechEmerge Cooling Innovation Lab in India.

Please keep an eye out for more TechEmerge events showcasing sustainable cooling innovations and financing tools, including a global summit in October in Birmingham in the UK.  

 
 
 

No more yellow sky: Reducing air pollution from smoke and dust

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In early June, the sky turned yellow throughout much of the northeastern United States.shutterstock_2314342707_new_york_wildfires_pollution_blog.jpg People woke up to smog, haze, and a red sun, and were warned to stay indoors to protect themselves from a toxic cocktail of air pollutants. In New York City, the levels of particulate matter with 2.5 microns or less in size (PM2.5) were registered at a record-breaking 400 micrograms per cubic meter. This reading exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended 24-hour standard guidelines 11 times and was equivalent to every person in the city, including babies, smoking 5-10 cigarettes. Such unprecedented levels of air pollution made New York the most polluted of all big cities in the world on that day, displacing perennial record holders like New Delhi or Lahore.

The bad air in New York City and across the Northeast was carried by winds from Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Quebec – Canadian provinces experiencing record-high temperatures and droughts that have caused an unprecedented number of wildfires.

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World Bank Group Announces Comprehensive Toolkit to Support Countries After Natural Disasters

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June 22, 2023—The World Bank Group today announced a suite of new and expanded actions to help countries respond quickly and effectively to an ever-growing onslaught of crises.

At the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, Ajay Banga announced an expanded toolkit for crisis preparedness, response, and recovery that includes: (1) pausing debt repayments; (2) redirecting financing; (3) linking crisis preparedness and financing; (4); backstopping development projects with private sector support, and (5) building enhanced catastrophe insurance without debt.

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Take-Aways from the Anticorruption for Development Global Forum

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Esther Smith – Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, U.S.A.

In June, the Anticorruption for Development (AC4D) Global Forum was held at the Worldbanner-anticorruption-780x439 Bank Group’s headquarters in Washington D.C.  Aware of corruption’s high societal and environmental costs, the World Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to anticorruption as a development priority and seeks to foster partnerships with other stakeholders working towards better governance and integrity. Equally important to the Netherlands, the event was co-hosted by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and well-attended by an audience from all over the world and various organizations.

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Investing in Youth, Transforming Africa

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STORY HIGHLIGHTSafe-hc-summit

  • By 2075, one-third of the world’s population—and of the working-age population—will be African. It is the only region where the workforce will grow continuously in the coming decades.
  • This gives Africa an enormous opportunity to drive economic growth and prosperity through investments in education, skills, and health.
  • Africa’s Heads of State are gathering at the Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit to discuss how to accelerate human capital accumulation, leverage the youth bulge, and create jobs to propel economic growth.

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India incorporates green bonds into its climate finance strategy

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In 2023, India experienced the hottest February since 1901, the first year the country’sdehli_metro_adobestock_252063301_blog.jpg Meteorological Department started its weather records. Extreme weather events like this are becoming frequent and are expected to get worse due to climate change. India is among the countries most affected by the impacts of extreme weather events. 

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The Hidden Wealth of Nations: Groundwater’s Critical Role in a Changing Climate

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS econ-of-groundwater-india-well-780x439

  • As “nature’s insurance,” groundwater protects food security, reduces poverty, and boosts resilient economic growth, but the resource is threatened by overexploitation and pollution.
  • High-level political action is needed to prioritize groundwater and align the private and social costs of its use.
  • A new World Bank report considers the economic value of groundwater, the costs of misusing it, and the opportunities to leverage it more effectively.

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Ukraine; Supporting and Opportunities

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to inflict a devastating toll on the country and is780-ukraine-030722 causing serious global repercussions. Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and operating needs are staggering. According to the recent Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA2), the estimated cost of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction stands at $411 billion over the next decade. For 2023, Ukraine is facing an additional funding gap of $11 billion for critical economic and capital expenditures. The highest needs are in transport (22%), housing (17%), energy (11%), social protection and livelihoods (10%), explosive hazard management (9%) and agriculture (7%).

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