Determining reasonable indicators for climate change projects is complicated by the long-term horizon of both mitigation and adaptation project impacts as well as the uncertainty associated with climate change impacts. Actions taken now are often designed to have an impact in the uncertain and...

Determining reasonable indicators for climate change projects is complicated by the long-term horizon of both mitigation and adaptation project impacts as well as the uncertainty associated with climate change impacts. Actions taken now are often designed to have an impact in the uncertain and...

El objetivo del presente estudio es, en primer lugar, introducir el estado actual del marco normativo e institucional vigente para la promoción de recursos energéticos renovables, tanto convencionales (RERC, es decir, grandes centrales hidráulicas), como no convencionales (RER, es decir,...

This discussion paper presents a survey of the changes in Latin America's energy consumption over the last 30 years, before considering the trends that will affect the region in the coming decades. It highlights several important issues, including the growing demand for oil, which has prompted a...

Amongst a favorable economic environment, Ecuador's exceptional oil revenues have bolstered fiscal accounts. Several legal changes have created or modified funds or accounts aimed at saving, earmarking, or using oil-related revenues. This paper discusses oil-related fiscal policies,...

This study compares the levelized cost of electricity generated with fossil fuels (including coal, natural gas, fuel oil, and diesel) and renewable or carbon-free energy sources (including hydro, wind, solar, nuclear and geothermal). A meta-study of power generation technology capital costs...

This paper examines the potential for shale gas in Latin America, and the technical and institutional obstacles to the industry's development. The first part of the paper analyzes the characteristics of the shale gas revolution that developed in the U.S. and highlights its precarious nature, the...

Rigorous, objective evaluation of forest conservation policies in developing countries is needed to ensure that the limited financial, human, and political resources devoted to these policies are put to good use. Yet such evaluations remain uncommon. Recent advances in conservation best...

The international community has pledged 11 billion dollars to Haiti, a country where non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide nearly all public goods and services. This raises at least two questions: How can NGOs most effectively perform their own work, and how can NGOs integrate their...

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...