Back in January the World Bank set out on a “listening tour” to ask people what they thought should be included in the Bank’s Energy Strategy, which is set to be released next year.
Now, six months and 1,700 comments later, the people have spoken and the results are probably raising more than a few eyebrows inside the World Bank.
(CNN) — While the eyes of the world have followed the effect of Haiti’s devastating earthquake on Port-au-Prince, an ecological disaster has been quietly unfolding elsewhere in the country. The mountainous forests of Haiti’s Massif de la Hotte region have more critically endangered species than anywhere else on earth, according to Alliance for Zero Extinction, a global initiative of 52 conservation organizations. The area has 42 mammals, birds, reptiles, plants and amphibians on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Globally Threatened Species. More importantly, 13 species of frog on the verge of extinction live Continue reading
Best of the Web, Monday, 13th September (Click on the titles to read the full story.) 1. If you’re trying to sell stoves or briquettes to the energy poor, then this one’s for you! Marketing to the bottom of the pyramid – Almost a third of the world’s population earns $2.50 or less a day. The enormity of this disparity takes my breath away, but there’s an interesting flip side to it: That’s a market of more than five billion dollars a day. Add the next segment ($5 a day) and it’s easy to see that every single day, the Continue reading
09 Sep 2010 17:02:03 GMT Source: Reuters * Second big World Bank hire in sector in recent months * Bank has been criticized for recent coal plant loan WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The World Bank on Thursday said it has appointed a California professor to lead its efforts to foster growth of alternative energy programs in developing countries. Daniel Kammen, an energy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, will be chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency, the bank said. The position was created amid unprecedented demand from developing countries for support to address development and Continue reading
By Tim Witcher (AFP) – 1 day ago UNITED NATIONS — World powers are moving slowly toward an accord on the strategy to be embraced at a looming United Nations summit aiming to get the lofty Millennium Development Goals back on track. Ten years after more than 150 leaders set eight ambitious targets for 2015 — ranging from cutting child mortality rates by two thirds, to halving the number of people living in absolute poverty and spreading access to the Internet — none are likely to be reached, experts say. Fallout from the financial crisis, a lack of will and Continue reading