This past February Argentina suffered one of its worst catastrophes of the last 50 years, resulting in more than 4,000 affected households, around a dozen fatalities, close to 5,000 evacuees and a financial loss close to 200 million U.S. dollars. These numbers are merely an estimate of the damage caused by the storm, which shook the province of Cordoba earlier this year. This … [Read more...] about Natural? Disasters
Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes
Shoreline Protection Gives Four More Reasons to Smile
Barbados is said to be a smile wide. This smile has gotten broader for locals, business owners, tourists and other visitors to the West Coast of the island following the completion of the second phase of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)/ Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) funded coastal resilience project. The project is designed to: Make the shoreline more … [Read more...] about Shoreline Protection Gives Four More Reasons to Smile
Is Investment in Palm Oil Certification Worth It?
Palm oil has a terrible reputation. Especially among environmental and social advocates, palm oil is viewed as the crop responsible for a large-scale deforestation, particularly in Southeast Asia. Deforestation of carbon-rich forests leads to greenhouse gas emissions; between 2001 and 2010, palm oil-driven land-use change resulted in an average of 216-268 million tons of CO2 … [Read more...] about Is Investment in Palm Oil Certification Worth It?
What do we mean by sustainable infrastructure?
Have you ever seen a building in your hometown that was never finished due to insufficient money? Have you suffered power outages due to hurricanes or flooding? Are there communities in your country fighting against infrastructure developments in their towns? These are only a few examples of the problems that can arise when infrastructure is built disregarding the risks … [Read more...] about What do we mean by sustainable infrastructure?
Is there such a thing as the “perfect” hydropower dam?
Latin America needs more hydropower. Is there a way to get them right? At the IDB, we are always searching for lessons learned that can help us do better and more sustainable projects. The 456MW Chaglla Hydroelectric Project on the Huallaga River in Huánuco, Perú – of the Empresa de Generación Huallaga, a subsidiary of the Odebrecht Group – provides a number of lessons … [Read more...] about Is there such a thing as the “perfect” hydropower dam?