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BOGOTA, Colombia, Sept 28 – Leading fiscal experts, economists and environmentalists kick off a two-day workshop in Bogota today to look at how finance ministries in Latin America can better use and design fiscal instruments that mitigate the impact of climate change. Called “Environmental Fiscal Reforms for Low-Carbon Growth”, the workshop is jointly organized by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia and an initiative called the Climate Action Peer Exchange (CAPE).  CAPE, which was created by the World Bank and the Morocco COP22 Presidency in November 2016, brings together finance ministers, technical staff and others to design climate-smart macroeconomic policies and to develop financing strategies to implement the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) established under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The workshop will be officially opened by Colombia’s Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas and World Bank Senior Director of Environment and Natural Resources, Karin Kemper. Government representatives and international speakers from the region and around the world are expected to attend, including Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Norway.   “Colombia is committed to fiscal policies and reforms that help us to successfully implement the Paris Agreement, as shown in the tax reform approved last year where we included a carbon tax, among other climate related provisions that are part of our sustainable development agenda. From instituting carbon taxes to strengthening social and economic resilience, finance ministers have access to a wide range of public policy instruments which could help their countries to manage the effects of climate change” said Cardenas. Commented the World Bank’s Karin Kemper: “When it comes to climate action and green development, Colombia has been a strong voice both in the region and worldwide. We are pleased to partner with Colombia on important initiatives such as CAPE that advance international dialogue on low carbon development and highlight the vital role of finance ministers and private finance in these efforts.” The workshop is part of a series of international exchanges promoted by CAPE that aim to provide a platform for finance ministers to identify challenges and share best practices for the successful implementation of the NDCs. The first CAPE workshop was held earlier this month in Shanghai, China. The workshop agenda includes presentations and panel discussions on:Policy and fiscal instruments to unlock private finance for green investments;Challenges to access international climate-related finance;Lessons learned both regionally and internationally from the implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms;Policies to halt deforestation and achieve forest conservation efforts.

أول خط ائتماني للطوارئ في منطقة البحر الكاريبي لضمان الحصول على تمويل فوري بمبلغ 150 مليون دولار أمريكي في أعقاب الكارثةواشنطن، 28 سبتمبر / أيلول 2017- وافق مجلس المديرين التنفيذيين للبنك الدولي اليوم على قرض قيمته 150 مليون دولار لجمهورية الدومينيكيان لتوفير التمويل الفوري في حالة وقوع كارثة طبيعية أو حالة طوارئ في مجال الصحة العامة. ويوفر خيار السحب المؤجل لمواجهة الكوارث للبلدان المعنية تمويلا مباشرا دون خفض موارد تمويلية مخصصة للبرامج الاجتماعية والإنمائية.وقال دانيلو مدينا رئيس جمهورية الدومينيكان "بما أن جمهورية الدومينيكان وجيرانها في البحر الكاريبي يعيشون معرضين للآثار المباشرة لتغير المناخ، وسيستمرون في مواجهة التعرض للظواهر المناخية القاسية، فإن أولويتنا هي أن نكون أفضل استعدادا لإنقاذ الأرواح ومساعدة المجتمعات المتضررة، وضمان بناء البنية الأساسية الرئيسية كالمستشفيات والمدارس والطرق والجسور والمنازل بشكل أفضل لتحمل الكوارث الطبيعية. وهذا التمويل من البنك الدولي سيساعدنا على التخفيف من المخاطر الناجمة عن الصدمات المناخية والكوارث الطبيعية، فضلا عن الأوبئة ".ووفقا لدراسة أجراها البنك الدولي ووزارة الاقتصاد والتخطيط والتنمية مؤخرا، فإن متوسط قيمة الأثر الاقتصادي للكوارث في البلاد يقدر بحوالي 420 مليون دولار سنويا خلال الفترة من 1961 إلى 2014. وتحل جمهورية الدومينيكان في المرتبة 27 من 171 بلدا على مؤشر المخاطر العالمي الذي وضعته الأمم المتحدة لعام 2016 والذي يرتب البلدان حسب تعرضها لمخاطر الكوارث الطبيعية.وقال تحسين سيد، مدير منطقة البحر الكاريبي بالبنك الدولي: "إن أهم درس من خبرتنا في مجال الاستجابة للكوارث في جميع أنحاء العالم هو الاستثمار في الوقاية والاستعداد لكي نتمكن من الاستجابة بسرعة عند وقوع الكوارث. وهذه هي أول عملية من نوعها في منطقة البحر الكاريبي، وهي تركز على سلسلة من الإصلاحات لتعزيز قدرة الحكومة على إدارة مخاطر الكوارث، والتكيف مع المناخ، والقدرة على الصمود ماليا".وستعمل إصلاحات السياسات المدعومة في إطار خيار السحب المؤجل لمواجهة الكوارث على ما يلي:· إدراج مخاطر الكوارث والمخاطر المرتبطة بالمناخ في إدارة المالية العامة والديون؛· تطبيق أنظمة تقسيم المناطق، وإنفاذ قوانين البناء، ومعايير السلامة للبنى الأساسية العامة، ولاسيما للمدارس والمنشآت الصحية؛· تعزيز تدابير الحد من مخاطر الفيضانات والجفاف في إطار استراتيجية وطنية شاملة لإدارة الموارد المائية؛· زيادة قدرات الاستثمارات العامة من خلال دمج تحليل المخاطر المتعلقة بالكوارث والمناخ.خيار السحب المؤجل لمواجهة الكوارث هو قرض مرن يستحق أجله النهائي بعد 19 عاما، بما في ذلك فترة سماح مدتها 12 عاما. خلفية عن كيفية استجابة البنك الدولي لإعصاري إيرما وماريافي أعقاب إعصاري إيرما وماريا مباشرة، قام البنك الدولي بتعبئة فريق لإدارة مخاطر الكوارث لمساعدة حكومات البلدان المتضررة، لإجراء تقييم سريع للأضرار والاحتياجات، بالتعاون مع الأمم المتحدة والاتحاد الأوروبي والوكالة الكاريبية لإدارة حالات الطوارئ في حالات الكوارث والبنك الكاريبي للتنمية. وفي بربودا، يجري حاليا عمل مشروع طارئ للتعافي بنظام الانتشار السريع للمساعدة في بناء البنية التحتية العامة المتضررة بشدة. وفي دومينيكا، تتوفر المساندة الفورية من مشروع قائم للحد من آثار الكوارث، وسيقوم صندوق التأمين ضد مخاطر الكوارث في البحر الكاريبي، الذي تم تطويره بمساعدة البنك الدولي، بدفع مبلغ 19 مليون دولار إلى دومينيكا في غضون 15 يوما. وسيتم تقديم مساندة إضافية بعد تقييم الأضرار والخسائر. وفي جمهورية الدومينيكان وهايتي، يعمل البنك عن كثب مع الوكالات الوطنية والشركاء في التنمية لتحسين الاستعداد والتأهب والاستجابة في الوقت المناسب.ومن المهم أيضا تأمين توفير فرص الحصول على الموارد المالية قبل وقوع الكوارث. ويشمل ذلك أدوات مثل صناديق الطوارئ وآليات التأمين وخطوط التسهيلات الائتمانية للطوارئ مثل خيار السحب المؤجل للكوارث. وبالإضافة إلى ذلك، تتلقى ستة من بلدان منطقة البحر الكاريبي، وهي أنتيغوا وبربودا، وأنغيلا، وهايتي، وسانت كيتس ونيفيس، وجزر البهاما، وجزر تركس وكايكوس، مدفوعات تبلغ 29.6 مليون دولار من صندوق الكاريبي للتأمين ضد مخاطر الكوارث، بعد أقل من 15 يوما من ضرب إعصاري إيرما و ماريا لمنطقة البحر الكاريبي. وتستفيد هذه الآلية الإقليمية للتأمين من وسائل المشاركة في تحمل المخاطر لتوفير السيولة للاستجابة بسرعة للكوارث.

Washington, DC September 28, 2017 – The World Bank Group received EUR 10 million from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to improve and scale up the use of extreme weather insurance instruments as risk management tools for the poor and the most vulnerable smallholder farmers particularly affected by climate change.  The contribution will finance knowledge and technical assistance activities of the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) to build capacity and expertise among practitioners in developing countries to devise effective index insurance products for smallholder farmers in areas vulnerable to climate shocks and climate-related disaster. "This is of utmost importance for sustainable development since natural disasters show to what extent climate change can hinder success in development. Climate insurance provides help – in a quick and cost-effective manner," said Dr. Gerd Müller, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. "Understanding and managing risks caused by weather-related disasters is critical to help smallholder farmers build resilience, reduce food insecurity, and offset economic losses,” said Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Senior Director, Finance & Markets Global Practice, World Bank Group. "Developing good insurance products is most important for agricultural regions that are vulnerable to disasters and climate impacts, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean." Index insurance pays out benefits based on a pre-determined index composed of extreme weather data for the loss of assets and investments resulting from extreme weather or other catastrophic events. Although an innovative product, insurers in developing countries rarely offer index insurance because they do not have sufficient knowledge and technical capacity to develop sustainable and profitable products. GIIF will allocate this funding to further build capacity in the insurance community on index insurance by organizing technical workshops for practitioners; disseminating know-hows; incubating innovation; and improving access to reliable, accurate, and timely data in agriculture insurance. GIIF is a World Bank Group’s program that facilitates access to finance for smallholder farmers, micro-entrepreneurs, and microfinance institutions by providing climate and disaster risk transfer solutions and index-based insurance in developing countries. To date, GIIF has supported nearly a dozen partners in developing countries to set up index insurance markets and has facilitated more than 1.8 million contracts, covering approximately 7 million people, with $178m in sums insured. GIIF also works with private insurance and reinsurance providers, and is thus able to contribute to the development of sustainable insurance markets. GIIF is funded by the European Union/ACP Groups of States, Japan, and the Netherlands, and now also Germany. The signed agreement is part of the InsuResilience initiative on climate risk insurance whose goal is to help an additional 400 million people obtain access to direct or indirect insurance coverage by 2020. The initiative was adopted at the 2015 G7 Summit in Germany. At its Hamburg Summit, the G20 welcomed the creation of a Partnership for Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Solutions, building on the work of existing platforms, such as InsuResilience 

WASHINGTON, September 28, 2017 –With 1.5 billion people covered globally, food and voucher programs provide an important lifeline for the poor and vulnerable. Understanding how those programs work, and how they connect to wider social protection systems is key to ensuring food security and helping the poor, says a new World Bank report. Social protection systems include programs that help manage shocks, connect vulnerable people to jobs, and address poverty and food insecurity. Food, which claims about 61 percent of the poor’s expenditures, is a pressing daily concern for people at the bottom of the income ladder. An effective food-based social assistance program can make a critical difference and help release household resources for other needs. The study – The 1.5 Billion People Question: Food, Vouchers or Cash Transfers? –reveals that while countries increasingly support people with cash as a form of safety net, food-based programs are still important interventions in some contexts. The analysis highlights how food and voucher programs remain relevant, and in most circumstances, have improved over time. “This report explores how to successfully integrate social protection mechanisms and food assistance,” says Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director for the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice. “Understanding how programs have evolved and learning from different country experiences enables us to adopt an evidence-based approach to protecting the poor and vulnerable, and helps policymakers deliver effective interventions.” The study shows that cash, vouchers, and food transfers are effective in improving food security, with the former two more likely to achieve these goals at lower costs. The report also discusses how the use of modern technology in food programs shows enormous potential for improving these delivery systems. For example, in some low-income states in India, technological tools helped to expand the coverage of food distribution and curb rates of exclusion of the poor from the program. Vouchers and cash transfers are shown to complement food-based transfers to support additional policy goals such as in nutrition and agriculture. “Food and cash-based assistance are often portrayed as alternatives. Yet no social protection system is entirely in one form or the other. The report sheds light on why that’s the case, and what factors shape decisions around food based programs” says Ugo Gentilini, World Bank Senior Economist and one of the co-editors of the study. The diversity of contexts within countries – for example the availability of food in local markets–  may call for maintaining flexibility in program choices. Political and economic factors, past practices, and the multiplicity of objectives can also help explain why governments retain food-based interventions. Case studies of programs in six countries, namely Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Sri Lanka, and the United States are presented in the study. Although these include middle- and high-income countries, the lessons are relevant to lower-income countries as well.

WASHINGTON, September 28, 2017 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following project: Dominican Republic – Disaster Risk Management Development Policy Loan with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option IBRD Loan: US$150 million Terms: Maturity = 19 Years, Grace = 12 Years Project ID: P159351 Project Description:  The objective of the project is to support the efforts of the Government of the Dominican Republic to quickly mobilize resources in the aftermath of a natural catastrophe including public health-related events and to strengthen the government’s capacity for disaster risk management, climate adaptation, and financial resilience. Contact: Christelle Chapoy +1(202) 458 2656  More information:  http://projects.worldbank.org/P159351?lang=en  

Download (pdf): Full Report Introduction Preface, Acknowledgments, About the Editors and Authors, Abbreviations Chapter 1 The Evolution of Food as Social Assistance  Chapter 2 The Public Distribution System  in India Chapter 3 The Tamween Food Subsidy System in Egypt  Chapter 4 Food-Based Social Assistance Programs in Sri Lanka Chapter 5 From Food Subsidies to Targeted Transfers in Mexico Chapter 6 Evolution and Implementation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the United States Chapter 7 Evolution and Implementation of the Rastra Program in Indonesia

First contingency line of credit in the Caribbean to secure access to US$150 million immediate financing in the aftermath of a disaster WASHINGTON, September 28, 2017— The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$150 million loan to the Dominican Republic (DR) to provide immediate financing in the event of a natural disaster or a public health emergency. This Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option, or Cat DDO, provides countries with immediate financing without taking resources away from social and development programs. “As the Dominican Republic and its Caribbean neighbors live through the direct consequences of climate change and will continue facing vulnerability to extreme weather events, our priority is to be better prepared to save lives, assist affected communities, and ensure that key infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and houses are better built to withstand natural disasters. This financing from the World Bank will help us mitigate risks from climate shocks, natural disasters, as well as pandemics”, said Danilo Medina, President of the Dominican Republic. According to a recent World Bank and Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development study, the economic impact of disasters in the country is estimated to an average of US$420 million per year over the period of 1961 to 2014. The Dominican Republic ranks 27 out of 171 countries in the 2016 United Nations World Risk Index that ranks countries risks of natural disasters.“The most important lesson from our experience in disaster response across the world is to invest in prevention and preparedness to be able to respond speedily when disaster strikes," said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank Director for the Caribbean. “This is the first operation of its kind in the Caribbean, and focuses on a series of reform to strengthen the government’s capacity for disaster risk management, climate adaptation, and financial resilience”.The policy reforms supported under the Cat DDO will: ·         Incorporate disasters and climate-related risks into fiscal and debt management; ·         Enforce zoning regulations, building codes and safety standards for public infrastructures, in particular for schools and health facilities; ·         Strengthen flood and drought risk reduction measures as part of a comprehensive water resource management national strategy; ·         and further build resilience of public investments by integrating disaster and climate-related risk analysis. The Cat DDO is a flexible loan with a final maturity of 19 years, including a 12-year grace period. Background on how the World Bank is responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria In the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the World Bank mobilized a disaster risk management team to help governments of affected countries, to conduct a rapid damage and needs assessment, in collaboration with the United Nations, the European Union, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, and the Caribbean Development Bank. In Barbuda, an emergency recovery project is being fast tracked to help rebuild severely damaged public infrastructure. In Dominica, immediate support is available from an existing disaster reduction project and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC), developed with assistance of the World Bank, will be making a payout of USD $ 19 million to Dominica within 15 days. Additional support will be provided following a damage and loss assessment. In the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the Bank has been working closely with the national agencies and development partners to improve preparedness and timely response. Securing access to financial resources before a disaster strikes is also important. This includes instruments such as emergency funds, insurance mechanisms and contingency lines of credit such as the Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option, or Cat DDO. In addition, six Caribbean countries, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Haiti, Saint Kitts & Nevis, The Bahamas, and Turks & Caicos Islands, are receiving payouts amounting to US$ 29.6 million by CCRIF SPC, less than 15 days after Hurricane Irma and Maria ripped through the Caribbean. This regional insurance mechanism takes advantage of risk pooling to provide liquidity to respond quickly to disasters. ———————- For more information, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/lac Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbank Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WorldBankLAC For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank