A product of decades of industrialization, urbanization, and motorization, chronic severe air pollution is now a global phenomenon. Today, 90 percent of the world’s people live in places that do not meet World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards. The consequences for human health have been grave. Each year, air pollution causes 5 to 9 million premature deaths and … [Read more...] about Breathe Easy: smartphone apps can reduce exposure to air pollution
How is climate change impacting small islands in the Caribbean?
“A 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperature would be a ‘death sentence’ for island and coastal communities”, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley said during a powerful speech at the World Leaders Summit on the second day of the 26th UN climate summit (COP26) in Glasgow. Mottley highlighted how failure to provide critical climate finance to small island developing … [Read more...] about How is climate change impacting small islands in the Caribbean?
Rethinking private financing of climate action with Chile
A central theme of the talks at the Glasgow climate summit is how countries can mobilize the private sector to finance decarbonization. In a workshop that the IDB group organized with Fundación Chile yesterday , we discussed some solutions – beyond green financial regulations, concessional climate funds, and carbon markets – that are often overlooked in … [Read more...] about Rethinking private financing of climate action with Chile
How the IDB is scaling up support for Nature-Based Solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean
Nature and biodiversity are taking center stage as a critical theme at COP26 in Glasgow. As governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions seek to raise ambition in their climate commitments, nature-based solutions (NBS) present a key opportunity to both mitigate and adapt to climate change, while also contributing to other priorities such as economic recovery, … [Read more...] about How the IDB is scaling up support for Nature-Based Solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean
A cautionary tale: the importance of project-level grievance mechanisms
I was born in Montreal, and I have early memories of whizzing around the city on the metro system with my mother. When I was in the first grade, we moved to a new province, to a smaller town with a slower pace, and we got around by car, foot, or bus. Living in the suburbs, I remember the fear of missing the last bus and having to take a long walk from the bus stop. This … [Read more...] about A cautionary tale: the importance of project-level grievance mechanisms