The new kids on the block: redefining “critical” minerals essential for a clean energy future

As the world battles the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and mine sites across the 780X439_CSM_Headerworld delay or suspend operations, we are reminded of Matshona Dhliwayo’s quote: “stars are born out of dark moments.” While the price of most so-called “critical minerals” may be down now, demand for these minerals will rise again, and certainly well before 2050. Indeed, the World Bank Group’s latest report has found that the more ambitious the climate targets become, the more minerals and metals will be needed for a low-carbon future. Continue reading →

Weekly Round Up

3 phases to build more inclusive, efficient and resilient education systems in the wake of COVID-19

The pandemic has already had profound impacts on education. But it is possible to counter those shocks, and to turn crisis into opportunity. The policy responses to achieve this can be summarized in these three overlapping phases.

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How COVID-19 is changing the world: a statistical perspective from international agencies

We are living through unprecedented times. The impact of the novel coronavirus and its TCard COVID statdisease, COVID-19, has reverberated through every corner of the globe—taking lives, destroying livelihoods, and changing everything about how we interact with each other and the world.

At a time of crisis, governments more than ever must rely on timely, reliable data to make decisions to mitigate harm and support their citizens. What’s more, given the grave impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in our interconnected world, decisions made today will have consequences that will last far into the future, affecting people in every region and community. 

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eC2: China Agricultural Weather Index-based Insurance (WII) Project-WII Product Design and

Deadline: 28-May-2020 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) afr-improving-weather-forecasts-can-reduce-losses-to-development-in-africa-780x439

The project team is seeking the services of a vendor/consultant with proven track records in designing successful agricultural Weather Index Insurance products in the China market, and having strong expertise in weather/loss data collection, processing, analysis, WII product modeling, pricing and conducting related research etc.

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Human capital and climate action: Outcomes that deliver for people and planet

There is now a wealth of evidence that ensuring a well-educated, healthy, and well-students_in_primary_seven_at_zanaki_primary_school_in_dar_es_salaam_tanzania_heronourished population can pay bigger dividends to the economy than investing in roads and bridges alone. The World Bank Group’s Human Capital Project, launched in 2018, aims to accelerate more and better investments in people as a key way to unlock greater equity and inclusive growth.

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Broad, fast action to save lives and help countries rebuild

Axel van Trotsenburg|

The COVID-19 pandemic is uncharted territory for every country in the world. It has unleashed both a global health emergency and an unprecedented economic crisis of historic magnitude. Even as the coronavirus continues to spread, the World Bank estimates that, between 2019 and 2020, the global economy will shrink by $4.2 trillion dollars.  That is substantially bigger than South Asia’s entire regional economy (which is about $3.5 trillion), and as if we somehow wiped both Germany and Belgium off the economic map. Worse still, the fall from where we expected to be in 2021 if COVID-19 hadn’t hit is closer to $7.5 trillion dollars—equivalent to 40% of the entire U.S. economy, as well as larger than the combined GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean plus the Middle East and North Africa.

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Cities, crowding, and the coronavirus: Predicting contagion risk hotspots

Across the globe, well-functioning cities do one thing really well – they bring people sketchtogether. Social and economic interactions are the hallmark of city life, making people more productive and often creating a vibrant market for innovations by entrepreneurs and investors. No country can achieve significant economic growth without vibrant cities.

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eC2: Advisory Services and Analytics on Forest Smart Mining

Deadline: 14-May-2020 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)index

Advisory Services on Forest Smart Mining: Identifying innovative instruments that support the participation of the mining community in Nature Based Climate Solutions. The objective of this study is to identify, analyze case studies that will examine the role specific innovative net emissions mitigation mechanisms could play in incentivizing more robust participation by the large-scale mining community in forest smart mining practices.

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World Bank Predicts Sharpest Decline of Remittances in Recent History

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 — Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown. The projected fall, which would be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who tend to be more vulnerable to loss of employment and wages during an economic crisis in a host country. Remittances to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by 19.7 percent to $445 billion, representing a loss of a crucial financing lifeline for many vulnerable households.

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