The Nile Story is one of immense
challenges and remarkable achievements for the economic
development of the region. It begins in 1999, when the
ministers in charge of water affairs in the Nile countries
agreed to form the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Between 2003
and 2015, the Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF) supported and
coordinated cooperative work in the region, which has been
delivered mainly through the NBI. This book, commissioned by

The Tunisia Systematic Country
Diagnostic (SCD) seeks to identify the challenges and
opportunities to achieve the twin goals of reducing poverty
and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable way. This
SCD takes into account Tunisia’s historical sociopolitical
context and the political economy of past reforms to provide
the context for the challenges and opportunities that exist
today to make progress toward the twin goals. The economic

The magnitude of risks facing Mongolian agriculture has made the sector’s
development extraordinarily volatile over the last 25 years as it underwent decollectivization.
Livestock in particular has seen rapid and largely unsustainable
rates of growth in terms of numbers of animals and herders, and in so doing has
become acutely vulnerable to the severe winter weather events known as dzuds.
Periodic droughts and other production risks have also affected the country’s
much smaller crop agriculture, much of which is geared for the production of

Kazakhstan made steady progress on
poverty reduction and social development during the review
period, driven by impressive economic growth and rising
hydrocarbon prices. Yet, the country continues to grapple
with a number of systemic challenges, including: a lack of
progress on economic diversification and anticorruption; a
dominant role of the state in the economy; a lack of skills
in the labor force; and a legacy of environmental problems

India’s sustained and rapid economic
growth offers an opportunity to lift millions out of
poverty. But this may come at a steep cost to the nation’s
environment and natural resources. This insightful book
analyzes India’s growth from an economic perspective and
assesses whether India can grow in a “green” and sustainable
manner. Three key issues are addressed. The first is the

Ecosystem accounting is a coherent and integrated approach to the assessment of

The World Bank Group (WBG) has a long
experience in engaging in biodiversity with world-class
expertise in the field. It has been the single largest
funder of biodiversity investments since the late 1980s. The
WBG investments have largely been of two kinds: (1)
investments in biodiversity, aimed at the conservation and
sustainable use of species, habitats, and ecosystems that
sustain healthy ecosystems, while enhancing people's

This report provides estimates of social
and financial costs of environmental damage in India from
three pollution damage categories: (i) urban air pollution,
including particulate matter and lead; (ii) inadequate water
supply, poor sanitation, and hygiene; (iii) indoor air
pollution; and four natural resource damage categories: (a)
agricultural damage from soil salinity, water logging, and
soil erosion; (b) rangeland degradation; (c) deforestation;

This overview of climate change
activities in Kazakhstan is part of a series of country
notes for five Central Asian countries that summarize
climate portfolio of the major development partners in a
number of climate-sensitive sectors, namely energy,
agriculture, forestry, and natural resources, water, health,
and transport. Recognizing the nature and significance of
climate change contribution to an increase in disaster risk,

"Ecosystem services" has
become a catch-phrase for the complex connections between
the natural environment and human well-being. This paper
considers the impact of changes in the supply of ecosystem
services, and programs to increase their supply, on
near-term growth of gross domestic product. It focuses on
the relationship between locally generated versus
transboundary services and growth in developing countries,

"Getting the prices right" is
a good starting point but is not sufficient for achieving
environmentally efficient outcomes. Other policy
interventions are often necessary to complement pricing
policies. Moreover, when pricing is not at all feasible,
regulatory and command-and-control policies must be used
instead. This paper focuses on three interrelated themes at
the core of the pricing problem. First, there is the

A Country Environmental Analysis (CEA)
is a World Bank analytical tool used to integrate
environmental issues into development assistance strategies,
programs, and projects. To that end, the CEA synthesizes
environmental issues, highlights the environmental and
economic implications of development policies, and evaluates
the country's environmental management capacity. It is
composed of three analytical building blocks: the