Download or read book Environmental Performance Rating and Disclosure China s Green watch Program written by Hua Wang and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper describes a new incentive-based pollution control program in China in which the environmental performance of firms is rated and reported to the public. Firms are rated from best to worst using five colors-green, blue, yellow, red, and black-and the ratings are disseminated to the public through the media. The impact has been substantial, suggesting that public disclosure provides a significant incentive for firms to improve their environmental performance. The paper focuses on the experience of the first two disclosure programs, in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province and Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Successful implementation of these programs at two very different levels of economic and institutional development suggests that public disclosure should be feasible in most of China. The Zhenjiang and Hohhot experiences have also shown that performance disclosure can significantly reduce pollution, even in settings where environmental nongovernmental organizations are not very active and there is no formal channel for public participation in environmental regulation.
Download or read book Environmental Regulation and Public Disclosure written by Shakeb Afsah and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a remarkable case study of an environmental policy initiative for a national environmental regulatory system in the information age. In 1995 the Indonesian Ministry of Environment took the bold step to launch an environmental disclosure initiative called the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER). Under PROPER, environmental performance of companies is mapped into a five-color grading scale – Gold for excellent, Green for very good, Blue for good, Red for non-compliance, and Black for causing environmental damage. These ratings are then publicly disclosed through a formal press conference and posted on the internet. Not only did this simple rating scheme create a major media buzz and enhanced environmental awareness of the general public, but it also unleashed a wide range of performance incentives that showed how markets with environmental information could function in a developing country setting. The authors provide a multidisciplinary analysis of how the PROPER program harnessed the power of public disclosure to abate the problem of industrial pollution. They describe how the program has successfully improved the average environmental compliance rate from close to thrity per cent in 1995 to as high as seventy per cent in 2011. This improvement was driven primarily by information disclosure, which avoided expensive and unpredictable legal enforcement through the court system of Indonesia. The combination of institutional history and detailed economic and analyses sheds light on the role of policy entrepreneurs who laid the foundation for disclosure and transparency, despite the constraints of the Suharto regime. The PROPER program is now internationally recognized and continues to serve as a model for many developing countries.
Download or read book Digital Infrastructures written by Thomas Horan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-09-09 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Digital Infrastructures is the first integrated treatment of how IT technology is fundamentally affecting how critical infrastructures are managed. It is geared to provide the new infrastructure professional with state of the art concepts.
Download or read book The International Yearbook of Environmental and Resource Economics 2006 2007 written by Henk Folmer and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major annual publication presents a comprehensive overview of cutting-edge issues in environmental and resource economics. The expert contributors address some of today s most pressing environmental concerns including: pollution control policies Graphical Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis disclosure strategies for pollution control environmental policy under imperfect competition transport and the environment optimal forest harvesting. The Yearbook is an essential resource for economists, scholars and practitioners working in environmental and resource economics.
Download or read book Policy Research Working Papers written by and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Rural Environment and Social Development Strategies for the Europe and Central Asia Region written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report proposes a World Bank strategy for assisting the rural, environmental, and social development of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has been produced for a general audience partly for consultation purposes, and is therefore a work in progress. Each of the three areas of development is examined in separate chapters, and each summarises the World Bank assistance strategy in that area. The conclusion is that the challenge posed by the objectives of this report are far beyond the World Bank's abilities to achieve on its own.
Download or read book Government Auditing Standards 2018 Revision written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-03-24 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Audits provide essential accountability and transparency over government programs. Given the current challenges facing governments and their programs, the oversight provided through auditing is more critical than ever. Government auditing provides the objective analysis and information needed to make the decisions necessary to help create a better future. The professional standards presented in this 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards (known as the Yellow Book) provide a framework for performing high-quality audit work with competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence to provide accountability and to help improve government operations and services. These standards, commonly referred to as generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), provide the foundation for government auditors to lead by example in the areas of independence, transparency, accountability, and quality through the audit process. This revision contains major changes from, and supersedes, the 2011 revision.
Download or read book Integrated Drainage Systems Planning and Design for Municipal Engineers written by Patrick Ssempeera and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2023-05-05 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Urban water management has to take an integrated approach that prioritizes sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) over gray infrastructure. This book elaborates on the planning and evaluation of pipework drainage systems with a focus on modern-day constraints to deliver a solution that favors sustainability as the overarching goal. The book includes a technical section on design of gray and green infrastructure, considering the total lifecycle costs of drainage systems. Advanced computer simulation techniques are discussed after covering the derivation of both standard and empirical equations for appropriate hydrology and hydraulics. The book provides an incorporation of reliability analyses for both green and gray infrastructure starting with techniques for forecasting flows, hydraulic performance, and lifecycle costs. The work also involves 3-D modeling, geospatial and big data analysis, and how these techniques are applied into city management—particularly beneficial to municipal engineers who are increasingly becoming involved in mapping the underground. Soil mechanics and subsurface drainage systems are analyzed and structural aspects of sewers are included. Finally, soil behavior in shear, retaining wall structures, and tunneling is briefly featured in the book. This book will be of interest to (under)graduate and postgraduate engineering students, drainage engineers, urban planners, architects, water engineers, developers, construction contractors, and municipal engineers.
Download or read book Urban China written by The World Bank;Development Research Center of the State Council and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-07-29 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last 30 years, China’s record economic growth lifted half a billion people out of poverty, with rapid urbanization providing abundant labor, cheap land, and good infrastructure. While China has avoided some of the common ills of urbanization, strains are showing as inefficient land development leads to urban sprawl and ghost towns, pollution threatens people’s health, and farmland and water resources are becoming scarce. With China’s urban population projected to rise to about one billion – or close to 70 percent of the country’s population – by 2030, China’s leaders are seeking a more coordinated urbanization process. Urban China is a joint research report by a team from the World Bank and the Development Research Center of China’s State Council which was established to address the challenges and opportunities of urbanization in China and to help China forge a new model of urbanization. The report takes as its point of departure the conviction that China's urbanization can become more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable. However, it stresses that achieving this vision will require strong support from both government and the markets for policy reforms in a number of area. The report proposes six main areas for reform: first, amending land management institutions to foster more efficient land use, denser cities, modernized agriculture, and more equitable wealth distribution; second, adjusting the hukou household registration system to increase labor mobility and provide urban migrant workers equal access to a common standard of public services; third, placing urban finances on a more sustainable footing while fostering financial discipline among local governments; fourth, improving urban planning to enhance connectivity and encourage scale and agglomeration economies; fifth, reducing environmental pressures through more efficient resource management; and sixth, improving governance at the local level.
Download or read book Pollution Control in East Asia written by Michael T. Rock and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do some economies seem to excel at effective pollution management while others miss the mark when responding to deteriorating urban environments? These studies of pollution management in East Asia's newly industrialized economies (NIEs) include successful government responses in Singapore and Taiwan, qualified results in China and Indonesia, and much more limited success in Thailand and Malaysia. In each example, Michael Rock considers the starting point of the economy as it began its path toward industrialization in the post World War II period. He discusses the relevant historical and political context, the pressures placed on the political system from domestic and international sources, and the influence of ongoing trends in East Asia for democratization and economic liberalization. Rock's text makes it clear that each economy found unique, innovative ways to link environmental protection to its own political and economic institutions. Thus, while public pressure from both home and abroad gave strong impetus to successful programs in Taiwan, the development of policy in Singapore involved limited public review and a centralized, government-led process. The result of Rock's scholarship is a book that provides important lessons without being reductionist. The book offers insights to apply to pollution management in a diverse range of developing nations, but avoids attempts for precise prescriptions, or universally appealing, normative answers. A copublication of Resources for the Future and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
Download or read book Advancing Sustainable Development written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first systematic analysis of Russia's poverty and living standards since the country's independence. Its primary goal is to quantify the nature and extent of changes in the welfare of Russians during the course of transition and beyond. Part 1 establishes the economic and methodological framework within which poverty in the Russian Federation is studied. Part 2 comprises a series of chapters that analyze poverty profiles and trends, ranging across monetary and non-monetary indicators. Part 3 addresses selected critical aspects of the system of social support in the impact of public transfers, the extent of private interhousehold transfers, and public opinion about social problems.
Download or read book Greening Industrialization in Sub Saharan Africa written by Ralph Luken and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the concept of greening industrialisation and issues and considerations surrounding it through the lens of Sub-Saharan Africa. The book critically examines the concept of greening industrialisation and describes the progress and data challenges of monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals confronting African countries. The chapters summarise the policy and programme literature focused on eight policy regimes essential for greening industrialisation and identify opportunities for greening industrial policies. The authors lay out a research agenda that would inform, enable, and support greening industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa and provide an overview of green industrial plans that include climate strategies, energy efficiency strategies, and green industry assessments. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, policy-makers, and planners in the fields of Sub-Saharan African development and African environmentalism.
Download or read book Are SDGs a Myth written by Neeru Bansal and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2020-12-28 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the continued emphasis on development gains in India’s national policies and its quest to meet sustainable development goals. It offers an analysis of the laws and infrastructure for environment protection in the country and their ineffectiveness in dealing with the water pollution which has had dire consequences on India’s ecological landscape. The book, while highlighting the need and importance of industrial development, argues for sustainable measures to moderate and monitor such developmental efforts in light of severe environmental degradations. Focusing on the state of Gujarat, it looks at published and un-published data on industrial development and water pollution levels and data obtained via applications filed under the Right to Information Act. It also offers a detailed account of the concentration of red industries which release the most hazardous pollutants and their effects on the environment. The authors look at the data from a theoretical and empirical perspective, offering insights into how the checks and balances levied by the state have been violated. They highlight the patterns and trends which emerge from the study of these developmental efforts and underline the need to improve the effectiveness of policy instruments, and the need to diversify the existing mechanisms. The book will be of great interest to students and researchers of environment and development studies, public policy, sociology, law and governance, human ecology and economics.
Download or read book Urban Food Systems Diagnostic and Metrics Framework written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-09-19 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Bank knowledge product, “Food systems for an urbanizing world” (“Food Systems”), argues that future food systems will need to be increasingly focused on achieving four interlinked outcomes: generating remunerative agriculture, food processing and food service jobs; improving food security through improved access to affordable, quality food; producing and distributing nutritious and safe food; and becoming more sustainable and resilient. In response to these challenges, a diverse range of food system issues are being addressed by a growing number of municipal governments and local stakeholders in cities throughout the world. This report is a companion to the original report on Food Systems and as such represents the first step in discussing an urban food diagnostic and metrics framework and identifying data needs and innovative ways to collect information for this nascent urban food agenda. This introductory piece of work aims to propose a preliminary set of diagnostic questions and metrics for the outcomes and interventions as set forth in the report, Food Systems for an Urbanizing World.
Download or read book A New Blueprint for a Green Economy written by Edward B. Barbier and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-03 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published in 1989, Blueprint for a Green Economy presented, for the first time, practical policy measures for 'greening' modern economies and putting them on a path to sustainable development. This new book, written by two of the Blueprint for a Green Economy authors, revisits and updates its main messages by asking, first, what has been achieved in the past twenty years, and second, what more needs to be done to generate a truly 'green economy' in the twenty-first century? Blueprint for a Green Economy had one over-arching theme. Making economies more sustainable requires urgent progress in three key policy areas: valuing the environment, accounting for the environment and incentives for environmental improvement. Today, with the threat of global warming, the decline in major ecosystems and their services, and fears over energy security, achieving these goals is even more vital. The current book first summarizes the main messages from Blueprint for a Green Economy and explains why, given rapid and widespread global environmental degradation, they are still relevant. The book then examines the progress since Blueprint for a Green Economy in implementing policies and other measures to improve environmental valuation, accounting and incentives. Although much has been accomplished, additional advances are still required to green economies successfully. The book highlights the new policies and approaches needed for economic management of today's environmental concerns. Over twenty years later, A New Blueprint for a Green Economy once again emphasizes practical policies for greening modern economies, and explains why such an economic roadmap to a greener future is essential, if modern economies are to develop successfully and sustainably.
Download or read book Corporate Social Responsibility written by Richard Holme and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Appendix 2: CSR tools
Download or read book The World Bank Research Program 2004 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Bank's research is intended to address critical issues and problems facing member governments in developing and transition economies. How can the governments of the poorest countries generate enough revenue to provide the education and health services essential to reducing poverty and promoting growth and development? How can poor countries attract investors to build the infrastructure their economies need? How can they develop systems to bring clean water to the 2 billion people without it today? How can they train teachers and bring to class the 115 million children who have not yet received any education? And how can rich countries be persuaded to lower market barriers, helping to reverse the decline in export prices for poor countries that has left them earning less from trade today than in the 1970s? These are the types of questions that are addressed in this edition of 'The World Bank Research Program: Abstracts from Current Studies'. This volume reports on research projects initiated, under way, or completed from July 2003 through June 2004. It covers 151 research projects on several broad development related issues, including agriculture, health, education, environment, infrastructure, investment climate, and more. The abstract for each project describes the questions addressed, the analytic methods used, the findings to date, and policy implications.
