This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Nicaragua, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like
most countries in Latin America, Nicaragua has submitted one
national communication to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one
under preparation. Land use change and forestry are by far

While polluted surface water is
encountered across most of China, few economic valuation
studies have been conducted on water quality changes.
Limited information about the economic values associated
with those potential water quality improvements or
deteriorations is a disadvantage for making proper choices
in water pollution control and clean-up activities. This
paper reports an economic valuation study conducted in

Climate change is both a cause and an
effect of biodiversity change. Along with anthropogenic
dispersion, climate change is the main driver of change in
the geographical distribution of both beneficial and harmful
species, crops, livestock, harvested wild species, pests,
predators and pathogens. And the capacity of ecosystems to
adapt to climate change depends on the diversity of species
they currently support. This paper considers the connection

This policy note was prepared in
response to a request from the Government of Southern Sudan
(GoSS) for World Bank assistance in developing legislative
and institutional policies and strategies that will take
advantage of the potential of the region's forest
resources to contribute to poverty alleviation, food
security, sustainable agriculture, economic growth, and to
protection of forest-related environmental services such as

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Brazil, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. In
Brazil, the 5th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the
world, agriculture (including land use change and forestry)
is the largest contributor to green house gas (GHG)
emissions. The emission reduction potential of the

The consensus among scholars and
policymakers that "institutions matter" for
development has led inexorably to a conclusion that
"history matters," since institutions clearly form
and evolve over time. Unfortunately, however, the next
logical step has not yet been taken, which is to recognize
that historians (and not only economic historians) might
also have useful and distinctive insights to offer. This

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Ecuador, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like
most countries in Latin America, Ecuador has submitted one
national communication to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one
under preparation. Land use change and forestry are the

How should Tajikistan adapt to ongoing
and future climate change, in particular given the many
pressing development challenges it currently faces? The
paper argues that for developing countries like Tajikistan,
faster economic and social development is the best possible
defense against climate change. It presents some key
findings from a recent nationally representative household
survey to illustrate the strong public support for more

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Honduras, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like
most countries in Latin America, Honduras has submitted one
national communication to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one
under preparation. Land use change and forestry are by far

This book grew out of the Global Issues
seminars and is itself a testament to that two-way dialogue:
the suggestion to compile the speakers' lecture notes
into a book came from the students themselves. Both the
seminars and this book reflect the Bank's conviction
that the seemingly intractable problems of our globalizing
world-from entrenched poverty, to climate change, to new
infectious diseases such as AIDS and avian flu-can be

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Venezuela, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like
most countries in Latin America, Venezuela has submitted one
national communication to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one
under preparation. Land use change and forestry are the

There is increasing interest in climate
change issues in Indonesia particularly in the lead-up to
the COP13 or Copenhagen meeting in Bali in December 2007
when there was renewed focus on Indonesia as the third
largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world due
to deforestation, peat-land degradation, and forest fires.
In Indonesia, the agriculture sector employs the largest
share, 45 percent, of Indonesia's labor and contributes