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World Bank's Changing Wealth of Nations Data
Featured in The Economist
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On January 8, The Economist published an article on why Africa should invest in infrastructure and people to reduce its reliance on commodities. Featuring data and analysis from the Changing Wealth of Nations 2021, the piece looks at the heavy dependance of many African economies on mining and pumping oil. |
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Using NCA to Inform Solid Waste Management in Egypt |
Burning solid waste is currently responsible for up to one-third of Greater Cairo’s pollution from fine particulate matter, a pollutant directly associated with respiratory illness and premature mortality. |
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WAVES-supported pilot waste accounts showed masonry waste from the construction boom in coastal tourism development to be the top waste contributor in the Red Sea Governorate, and mixed waste (residential/ commercial, agriculture and animal) to be the largest share in the Governorate of Port Said. Port Said also exports up to 20 percent of waste created from agricultural production to other governorates for use as animal fodder and fertilizer. Recyclables like metals, plastics, paper, and glass account for 9–12 percent of total waste flows in both governorates.
This information is important for understanding the economic feasibility of building secondary markets for recyclables and tracking waste volumes for which private operators are contractually paid.
Data generated by the program has proven instrumental in designing facilities for waste sorting and recycling, because it can confirm whether minimum thresholds of annual waste flows have been met at the locations designated for the siting of the sorting facilities. The amount of waste in aggregate—or the quantities of specific waste materials—are also important indicators of environmental pressure and can help authorities set service fees, negotiate waste contracts with waste collection operators, and understand the contribution of the waste sector to the economy.
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“We are releasing three accounts as evidence of our commitment in developing Natural Capital accounting as a tool to guide investment for more diversified and sustainable growth that preserves and enhances the natural resource base that so many poor communities depend on”
Alexander Chiteme, former Minister for National Development Planning
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Championing Natural Capital Accounting in Zambia |
In 2020 Zambia officially released three Natural Capital accounts (Forest, Water and Land accounts) at a joint Government of Zambia / World Bank event. Since then, the accounts have been used to inform the Eighth National Development Plan and funding for further natural capital accounting has been included in the subsequent national budgets. Moreover, a modeling team is starting to actively use the accounts to build scenario analysis that will inform natural resource policy decisions and there is work underway to expand these accounts to include tourism and energy.
This example is illustrative of the importance of having a coordinating ministry to champion the NCA agenda and further its integration throughout government, creating momentum for expanding the scope of NCA data and analysis efforts.
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Central Banking and Supervision in the Biosphere |
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GPS team members contributed to the NGFS Study Group on Biodiversity and Financial Stability that produced this report (the third in a series). The Study Group report makes five recommendations to central banks and financial supervisors to help them fulfill their mandates in the face of biodiversity loss:
- recognize biodiversity loss as a potential source of economic and financial risk and commit to developing a response strategy to maintain financial and price stability;
- build the skills and capacity among central bank and supervisory staff as well as market participants to analyze and address biodiversity-related financial risks;
- assess the degree to which financial systems are exposed to biodiversity loss, by, for example, conducting assessments of impact and dependency, developing biodiversity-related scenario analysis and stress-tests;
- explore options for supervisory expectations for financial institutions’ governance, risk management, strategy, disclosure and financial conduct in relation to biodiversity-related financial risks and opportunities; and
- help build the necessary financial architecture for mobilizing investment for a biodiversity-positive economy, including by considering how central banks’ monetary policy operations and non-monetary policy portfolio management should be conducted in the context of biodiversity loss.
The work to develop biodiversity-related scenario analyses could potentially build on the global Earth-Economy model developed in the World Bank, GPS-supported, Economic Case for Nature report.
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The Annual Report 2020/2021 provides an overview of activities financed by the GPS and WAVES Plus Trust Funds until the end of fiscal year 2021 (June 30, 2021), covering two fiscal years (FY20 and FY21). This reporting period was shaped by the COVID pandemic, which both created new challenges for the program, and underlined the relevance of GPS to global and country level dialogue on resilient sustainable development.
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A recent study funded by the GPS’s Targeted Technical Assistance program quantified the benefits provided by natural ecosystems to irrigation systems and hydroelectric power producers in the Pursat Basin. The study results were instrumental in prompting the Cambodian Government and World Bank to include Nature-Based Solutions in the proposed Cambodia Water Security Improvement Project. |
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Exploring Nature-Related Financial Risks in Malaysia |
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The World Bank Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub in Malaysia, in partnership with Bank Negara Malaysia, recently launched a report on Exploring Nature-Related Financial Risks in Malaysia. Malaysia’s experience as a “megadiverse” emerging nation provides an opportunity to see how nature-related risks can be assessed and opportunities considered to improve economic and nature-related outcomes. A virtual launch on March 15, sought to inform global dialogue, raise awareness of the risks to financial stability.
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Explore Data From the Most Comprehensive
Accounting of Global Wealth
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The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021, the fourth such report produced by the World Bank, provides the most comprehensive and complete wealth accounts to-date. Visit the expansive CWON 2021 Data Explorer webpage to learn more. |
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New GPS Website in the Works
GPS is excited to announce that we are working on a new website. The new site will feature news and updates, as well as extensive knowledge, tools and data sections to share the latest resources and information on wealth accounting.
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NEWS FROM THE NCA COMMUNITY |
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Quantifying Companies' Impact on Forests, Oceans is a Challenge
The Wall Street Journal, 15 March 2022
Companies and investors are trying to figure out how to assess businesses' impact on the natural world. A key challenge is deciding what to count. The Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, or TNFD, a business-backed effort to protect biodiversity, published an early version of a new reporting framework Tuesday. It offers guidance for identifying companies' nature-related risks, following the model of the climate-risk framework devised by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. The goal is that better information will channel capital to companies that minimize damage to the environment and their exposure to risks.
The TNFD, a network of companies and financial institutions which is funded by the United Nations, national governments and nonprofit groups, plans to release further updates of the framework before completing it next year. Natural habitats such as rainforests and coral reefs are deteriorating rapidly. The World Bank estimated last year that the collapse of "ecosystem services"—natural systems that people rely on, such as pollination by insects—could wipe $2.7 trillion a year from the global economy by 2030.
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SEEA Highlights of the 53rd UN Statistical Commission
The 53rd session of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) was held 1-4 March 2022, giving the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting (UNCEEA) an opportunity to present their work program for the next four years.
The UNSC highlighted the use of the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) for policies on biodiversity, climate change and sustainable tourism and strongly supported the Committee’s work in ensuring that the SEEA is used for the compilation of several headline indicators of the monitoring framework of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, expected to be adopted at COP-15 in fall 2022. Read more about the SEEA event here.
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Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) now part of the UNSC
MST has been included in the official documents for the 53rd session of the United Nations Statistical Commission. MST is the framework recognized by the UN Statistical Commission for monitoring the contribution of Tourism to the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda. MST is a valuable guiding tool for countries to produce credible, comparable, and integrated data to better guide decisions and policy with respect to sustainable tourism.
A section on MST is included in the official UN report on environmental-economic accounting, which invites the UN Statistical Commission to express its views on the progress made in finalizing the statistical framework for MST, and a Background Document outlining recent accomplishments and key activities for 2022.
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Research Article: Biodiversity and infrastructure Interact
to Drive Tourism to and within Costa Rica
PNAS, VOL 119, NO 11
Biodiverse places tend to attract more tourists, especially where there is infrastructure that makes these places more accessible. Investments in both biodiversity conservation and infrastructure are needed to allow biodiverse countries to rely on tourism for their sustainable development.
Using a new method that combines NASA satellites and social media to show the benefits of investing in nature, a team of researchers from the Stanford Natural Capital Project and the Government of Costa Rica studied how nature supports Costa Rica’s most visited and valuable tourist destinations, and thus the benefits of investing in nature.
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Cover Photo: aerial view of mangroves in The Gambia (Curioso.Photography / shutterstock)
This newsletter is published by the GPS Communications Team
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