July 8, 2019
The Dollars of Destruction: Infrastructure Damage Costs in LMICs
The increasing regularity and intensity of extreme weather events has drawn needed attention to incorporating resilience into planning and construction of infrastructure.
Views from the Center
February 5, 2016
El Niño vs El Tío: What’s Causing Food Insecurity in Southern Africa?
The UN’s World Food Program now estimates that some three million Zimbabweans, or roughly one-quarter of the population, may require food aid this year. Zimbabwe is suffering from erratic rainfall this year, blamed in large part on the El Niño weather phenomena. An estimated 70% of Zimbabweans rely on agriculture, so the impact on poverty and human welfare will no doubt be severe. But in reading about Zimbabwe’s current predicament, something struck me: neighboring Zambia seems to have no urgent food aid requirements.
June 20, 2012
Unleash OPIC: Why Are We Fighting Climate Change on the Back of the World’s Poor?
The great new frontier in the global fight against poverty is access to electricity. The UN has launched a campaign to provide energy for all and our friends at the ONE Campaign have issued an Energy Poverty Challenge (see Michael Elliott’s video here). According to ONE, some 70% of Africans don’t have access to modern energy.
January 8, 2009
Europe is Left in the Cold to Ponder North Africa's Solar Energy Potential
Today Bloomberg News reports that Russia's national monopoly, Gazprom, has shut down all natural gas shipments to the Ukraine as part of an escalating price war that has created an energy crisis in Europe.
October 9, 2008
Hope for Africa's Energy Future
Yesterday, I spoke at the 2008 U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference, Connecting the Continent, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa. I spoke about the infrastructure constraints faced by the private sector in Africa, particuarly the lack of a reliable supply of electricity.
July 9, 2008
Scrap the G8
Once again the G8 has come up tragically short on climate change and a host of urgent problems affecting poor people in developing countries. The good news is that they are at least discussing the right topics. The first Hokkaido G8 document, on the World Economy spills lots of ink on relations between rich and developing economies, including for example, reaffirmation of support for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
April 2, 2008
Robert Zoellick Outlines World Bank Response to Global Economic Situation
Robert Zoellick outlined new approaches that the World Bank will take to help solve global problems today in a major speech delivered at an event organized by the Center for Global Development.
January 3, 2008
Clean Energy May Also Be Cheapest Option for Much of Africa
Just before the holidays, my colleague David Wheeler sent me a copy of a new publication from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank. Titled "Technical and Economic Assessment of Off-grid, Mini-grid and Grid Electrification Technologies," it does not exactly jump off the shelf.
March 12, 2007
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Climate Change and Criminal Liability
In U.S. jurisprudence, the standard for conviction in a criminal proceeding is "beyond a reasonable doubt" -- at least 90% certain, in the conventional understanding. The prevailing standard in civil proceedings is the "preponderance of evidence" -- more likely true than not -- which implies greater than 50% likelihood.
February 2, 2007
The IPCC Debate on Sea-Level Rise: Critical Stakes for Poor Countries
Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first part of its long-awaited Fourth Assessment Report. This is a major event, because the Report strengthens the scientific consensus about the threat from global warming if we don't curb greenhouse gas emissions.
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