IEMS Faculty Associate Prof. Wenbo Wang examines how people become green by studying a policy change in China which obligated consumers to purchase plastic bags rather than receive them for free.

The Environment and Safeguards Group (ESG) of the IDB has examined how potential environmental and social risks of major Bank-supported road improvement investments in natural resource rich and socio-culturally diverse "frontier" regions have been identified and addressed in various parts of...

This paper proposes a concept of green infrastructure, centered on a multi-level approach to infrastructure development that addresses these impacts. The paper argues that only multi-level solutions, encompassing national policy, sector planning, and sound project engineering, will be able to...

Bank investments in tourism and other coastal development projects have been on the rise, generating an interest in the development of instruments and tools that would more effectively inform Bank staff on critical issues, and support the management of the environmental and social risks of the...

This paper explores options to minimize threats posed to IDB-financed physical investments by the impacts of climate change. A large proportion of projects are implemented in climate-sensitive sectors (e.g., agriculture, water resources, and transport). In these cases, the norm is to consider...

This paper provides an overview of the characteristics of Central American rivers and related freshwater ecosystem services, discusses trends in hydropower development and known environmental and social consequences, and offers suggestions for finding a balance between hydropower and the...

The stories included in this volume were published originally in IDBAmérica and tell of new approaches the people of Latin America and the Caribbean are taking to protect the rainforest, reduce erosion, conserve marine life, create protected areas, and ensure a better future for themselves and...

The Environmental Policy was in its prime during the 1980s but after the 1990s, as several economic problems appeared, the countries did not have the strength to support this policy anymore. However the environmental issues still remain pressing due to the changes in society. Is there a...

This report delivers systematized information intended to direct the work of the Regional Dialogue, with an emphasis on the efforts that Southern Cone countries. The report includes recommendations on how the countries could improve their environmental institutions and management practices,...