People pack up and leave their homes for many reasons – economic, social, political – and these drivers are often interconnected. A more complete picture of patterns of mobility must now include those moving due to climate change – a trend expected to increase over time - as people journey from one part of their countries to another such as:

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022.  The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.

The Multilateral Leaders Task Force members are mobilizing critical financing, with a focus on grants and concessional lending; helping to...

On this edition of the Development Podcast from the World Bank Group, Raka Banerjee and Paul Blake examine one of the biggest challenges facing the global community today: Climate Change.

“ and entire economies will be held hostage to the worst impacts,” says World Bank Manager for Advisory and Operations in the Climate Group, Genevieve Connors.

First up, Raka reviews what we know about climate change and what’s at stake.

We then speak to Carolina Schmidt, Chile’s Minister of the Environment, about the threats her country is facing and what her government is doing to address them.

Finally, we speak to Gen Connors about the World Bank Group’s new agenda on addressing climate adaptation and mitigation over the next decade.

 

 

Transcript

Paul Blake:

Hello and welcome to The Development Podcast coming to you from...

The expansion of international trade can help address critical development challenges in the Pacific Islands and Timor-Leste – such as distance from major markets, dispersed populations and vulnerability to climate-related disasters – but the benefits of trade facilitation often impact men and women differently.

The World Bank Group has completed research to identify the specific challenges men and women traders face. Over 1,500 cross-border trading firms were surveyed in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.

The report “Groundswell: Acting on Internal Climate Migration” projects that climate change could drive 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050. Hotspots of internal migration could emerge as soon as 2030, spreading and intensifying thereafter. Immediate and concerted action to reduce global emissions and efforts to support green, inclusive, and resilient development could however reduce the scale of climate migration by as much as 80%.

Over 3 billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their protein intake and livelihoods – but 90% of global marine fish stocks are now fully exploited or overfished.   More than 75% of food crops rely on animal pollination – but over 40% of known insect species have declined in past decades.

Ground Experiences from around the Island  

Sri Lanka’s extensive network of public healthcare workers has been the underlying force behind the country’s pandemic response. This series of articles, beginning with the Puttalam District, aims to capture the ground realities of pandemic management, from the perspectives of public health workers around the country.

The Pandemic in Puttalam

“COVID 19 came to Puttalam before it reached other parts of the island,” says Consultant Community Physician Dr. Thushani Dabrera, focal point for Puttalam’s COVID 19 response strategy.

Having worked as an epidemiologist in Puttalam since 2007, Dr. Dabrera knew the district well. She knew its people, its geography, its unique customs, and most importantly it’s public healthcare network. “Puttalam has had a somewhat different experience with the pandemic, due to certain unique risk factors in this region,” says Dr. Dabrera, adding, “to cope, our...

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022.  The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.

The Multilateral Leaders Task Force members are mobilizing critical financing, with a focus on grants and concessional lending; helping to...

More than a year into the pandemic, there is still much we don’t know concerning its impact on global poverty. Though high-frequency phone surveys have helped gain a broad understanding of the economic consequences of the pandemic, the collection of detailed, household surveys needed to understand its impact on poverty has largely been put on hold. While awaiting household surveys, we continue our previous approach of trying to understand the poverty consequences of the pandemic by extrapolating the income and consumption from past household surveys using national accounts growth forecasts. Simple as it is, this method generally outperforms more complicated methods in nowcasting poverty.

During 2020, as the pandemic spread around the globe and growth forecasts deteriorated, we gradually increased our estimate of the impact of the pandemic on global poverty. To recall, COVID-19-induced poverty is calculated as the difference in poverty in a world with and without...

The Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) has become an integral part of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring and Annual Meetings, providing an open space for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to dialogue and exchange views with World Bank Group and IMF staff, their peers, government delegations, and other stakeholders on a wide range of topics.

Find a tentative schedule for the CSPF.

To attend the CSPF, we invite civil society organizations to register for the Annual Meetings.

CSOs include non-governmental organizations, community groups, labor unions, indigenous peoples movements, faith-based organizations, professional associations, foundations, think tanks, charitable organizations, and other not-for-profit organizations.  Representatives from the private sector, academia or governmental bodies must apply for accreditation through the "Guests" or other respective registration category as clarified on the...