India's environmental problems
are deep-rooted and severe. Estimates of annual
environmental damage range from 4.5 percent to 8 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP), in line with annual economic
growth. Since 1990 the World Bank has lent India 1.94
billion dollars for 19 projects to mitigate environmental
damage and another 97 million dollars was granted under
global environmental facility (GEF) and Montreal protocol

This book presents papers on several
events organized by the World Bank's Disaster
Management Fund (DMF). The DMF's objectives are to help
the Bank provide a more strategic and rapid response to
disaster emergencies and to integrate disaster prevention
and mitigation measures in all Bank activities. Part I of
this book on risk identification contains chapters on the
economic impacts on natural disasters in developing

The present study describes, and
quantifies the provision of basic urban services to the
poor, in three Central American cities in El Salvador,
Honduras, and, Panama. It also identifies priority areas for
government intervention, using specialized household surveys
to quantify current deficits, and to rank households from
poor to rich, using aggregate consumption as the measure of
welfare. The urban poverty profile is examined in each city,

This study reviews the available
quantitative and qualitative information on urban poverty
issues and trends in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region,
with particular focus on Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Vietnam. The review is a desk study-which is limited to
material accessible to the Bank in Washington and draws
mainly on existing field work and other published and
unpublished papers. The empirical analysis focuses on the

This report reviews poverty in Armenia
in 2001, and examines the most recent trends covering the
1998/99 to 2001 period. It looks at the determinants of
poverty, and analyzes linkages between economic growth,
sector policies and poverty. The findings are based on two
rounds of the Armenia Integrated Living Conditions Survey
(ILCS), one carried out in 1998/99, and the other in 2001.
The report has contributed to the development of

The Northeast region of Brazil has long
been the single largest pocket of rural poverty in Latin
America. With a combined area of 1.6 million square
kilometers-16 percent of Brazil's total-the Northeast
is home to 45 million people, 28 percent of Brazil's
total population , of whom 5.4 million people live on about
$1 a day and a total of 10.7 million on $1.60 or less per
day. Nearly half of all rural communities are in the

These policy notes are intended as
background for initial discussions between the new
Government and the World Bank about the development strategy
for Turkey, and the possible support the World Bank could
bring to implement that strategy. This paper presents recent
work on specific sectors where action by the government
would be needed. The main points in each note are outlined
here: Strict fiscal management is key to full realization of

The Africa Gas Initiative (AGI) has been
established by the Oil and Gas Division of the World Bank,
to promote the utilization of natural gas in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The study focuses on coastal countries - Angola,
Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Gabon - along the
West African coastline, and the Gulf of Guinea, where most
of the region's gas reserves are located, and where
significant proportions of the gas produced, is being wasted

The Africa Gas Initiative (AGI) has been
established by the Oil and Gas Division of the World Bank,
to promote the utilization of natural gas in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The study focuses on coastal countries - Angola,
Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Gabon - along the
West African coastline, and the Gulf of Guinea, where most
of the region's gas reserves are located, and where
significant proportions of the gas produced, is being wasted

Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases that affect climate change is one of
the key challenges facing the international community. The
Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF) provides a framework
for action, learning, and research to demonstrate how
greenhouse gas emission reduction transactions can
contribute to sustainable development, while lowering the
costs of compliance with the Kyoto Protocol-the 1997

Bringing the United States and major
developing countries to control their greenhouse gas
emissions will be the key challenge for the international
climate regime beyond the Kyoto Protocol. But in the current
quantity-based coordination, large uncertainties surrounding
future emissions and future abatement opportunities make the
costs of any commitment very difficult to assess ex ante,
hence a strong risk that the negotiation will be stalled.

The World Bank research program seeks to
improve the design of Bank-financed projects, and programs
to increase the effectiveness of aid, and improve
recognition of emerging problems, in a responsive manner to
crises. Moreover, this program supports policy-oriented
research in developing, and transition economies, by
assisting in the development of research capacity in member
countries, as well as improving the Bank's own advisory