The objectives of this Strategic
Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) are as follows:
To identify the social and environmental impacts which could
be generated by oil and gas development, evaluating the
scope and probability of these impacts due to increased
activities in the onshore and offshore; to put forward
recommendations to avoid, manage and/or attenuate these
impacts; to facilitate the integration of these measures

This year's edition of the little green data book includes a focus story on oceans and its ecosystem services, as well as estimates of global marine fisheries wealth accounts, a first step in capturing the value of this important resource stock. A new set of ocean-related indicators are also introduced, highlighting the role of oceans in economic development and providing policy makers the information to make better decisions for the sustainable management of oceans.

This study provides estimates of social
and financial costs of environmental damage in India from
three pollution damage categories: (i) urban air pollution;
(ii) inadequate water supply, poor sanitation, and hygiene;
and (iii) indoor air pollution. It also provides estimates
based on three natural resource damage categories: (i)
agricultural damage from soil salinity, water logging, and
soil erosion; (ii) rangeland degradation; and (iii)

Groundwater comprises 97 percent of the
worlds readily accessible freshwater and provides the rural,
urban, industrial and irrigation water supply needs of 2
billion people around the world. As the more easily accessed
surface water resources are already being used, pressure on
groundwater is growing. In the last few decades, this
pressure has been evident through rapidly increasing pumping
of groundwater, accelerated by the availability of cheap

This study seeks to strengthen the
knowledge base with respect to competitiveness and
profitability of the Ship Breaking and Recycling Industry
(SBRI) and to investigate the feasibility of ship breaking
countries in this region, specifically Bangladesh and
Pakistan, achieving compliance with the Hong Kong Convention
(HKC) without jeopardizing the future of the industry there.
The objective of the study is to inform key stakeholders

This paper proposes an alternative
approach to addressing the complex problems of climate
change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The author, who
won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, argues that
single policies adopted only at a global scale are unlikely
to generate sufficient trust among citizens and firms so
that collective action can take place in a comprehensive and
transparent manner that will effectively reduce global

The objective of this review of
resettlement policy and implementation in Brazil, is to
identify ongoing good practices, as well as areas for
further improvement. It draws upon an assessment of the
Brazilian legal and institutional framework related to land
acquisition for projects in the public interest, a rapid
evaluation of the resettlement programs in six projects
(three projects that received Bank financing and three

The next several years are critical for
achieving lasting results in China's relatively new
energy efficiency program for public institutions. Public
institutions in China are defined as those government
agencies, public service units, and organizations that
either fully or partially receive government budget funds.
In the study team's opinion, key challenges for
China's public institution energy conservation program

This issue includes the following
headings: mass rapid transit: a tool for urban expansion;
financing: beyond sovereign guarantees; and low-income
housing: lessons from Latin America.

Recurring environmental incidents have
led to increased public awareness of the threats of
environmental pollution to public health and rapid
urbanization is driving up land prices in Chinese cities. As
a result of these developments, industrial plant relocations
are numerous, particularly of heavily polluting industrial
plants, such as pesticide, coke, steel plants, and chemical
industry plants. These relocations are leaving behind many

The purpose of this report is to provide
an overview of the current situation of brownfield
management in China for World Bank staff and relevant
government officials in order to help raise awareness of
land contamination and help develop remediation activities.
After the introductory section, section two explores the
environmental and development pressures of land. Section
three reviews government plans, targets and actions. Section

In Japan, the sustainable development of
cities and provinces has been vigorously pursued since the
late 1990s under various programs through the initiative of
the central government and local authorities. In 2009, the
World Bank launched an urban development initiative called
Eco2 Cities: Ecological Cities as Economic Cities (Eco2
Cities Initiative) to help cities in developing countries
achieve greater synergistic ecological and economic