By Sergio Lacambra The magnitude 8.0 earthquake that ravaged a large part of Peru in August 2007 left behind a massive toll: 7,000 families without homes or safe water, 220,000 children without schools, collapsed ground transportation, and destroyed infrastructure. Such natural disasters are not isolated incidents, especially in Peru, one of the most vulnerable … [Read more...] about Climate Change Mitigation Laws Strong Governance and Institutions to Cope with Natural Disasters
Climate Change
What does energy efficiency have to do with hotels in the Caribbean?
By Christiaan Gischler* and Alice Driver** The Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action Program (CHENACT) helps hotels embrace renewable energy and energy efficiency. Around 25 million tourists visit the Caribbean each year, making tourism a key driver of the economy that accounts for 30 to 50% of direct and indirect employment in some countries. In most families, at … [Read more...] about What does energy efficiency have to do with hotels in the Caribbean?
Deforestation and conflict in Colombia
From the abstract and conclusions of this paper on civil conflict and deforestation in Colombia: Despite a growing body of literature on how environmental degradation can fuel civil war, the reverse effect, namely that of conflict on environmental outcomes, is relatively understudied. [....] We study this relationship in the case of Colombia. [....] Our results are … [Read more...] about Deforestation and conflict in Colombia
Do We Practice Climate-Smart Agriculture?
By Nancy McCarthy* | nmccarthy@leadanalyticsinc.com | Senior Researcher, Lead Analytics The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Meteorological Organization , in its Working Group I report, confirmed that it is extremely likely that human activity has contributed to increases in … [Read more...] about Do We Practice Climate-Smart Agriculture?
In the long run we are all dead
Discounting future flows is a critical step in Cost Benefit or Cost Effectiveness. Many institutions still use relatively high discount rates, which might not be applicable to projects where benefits-or costs- will happen way in the future in a world of rapidly declining cost of capital. Is it time to reconsider discount rates estimates for development projects, particularly in … [Read more...] about In the long run we are all dead