GPS - Making Nature Count for People and Planet

Q1 2024

FEATURED

The 7th Global Policy Forum on Natural Capital

Implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework: Leveraging Natural Capital Data, Accounting and Analysis to Inform Policies

The Seventh Global Natural Capital Policy Forum, co-organized with UNSD and the Government of Rwanda, focused on policies and investments for implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in developing countries and how natural capital data and analysis could help make them more effective and efficient. The overarching objective of the Forum was to understand how data and analytics on natural capital and ecosystem services could be leveraged to align national biodiversity strategies and policies to support the implementation of the GBF. Discussions at the Forum were structured around four themes: (i) the economic case for nature, (ii) data, natural capital accounting, and analysis for biodiversity, (iii) getting the incentives right for biodiversity, and (iv) mobilizing finance for biodiversity targets.

The Forum lasted for two days, from March 5^th to 6^th, 2024, and brought together approximately 100 participants on-site in Kigali, Rwanda, and about 300 registered online participants. The Forum began with opening remarks from top officials from the organizing agencies and the host country government, including Dr. Sahr Kpundeh, World Bank Rwanda Country Manager; Dr. Ozonnia Ojielo, UN Resident Coordinator; and Hon. Dr. Claudine Uwera, Minister of State for the Environment, Rwanda. This was followed by a keynote speech on coupling knowledge, policies and finance for biodiversity delivered by Dr. Valerie Hickey, Global Director of Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice at the World Bank.

On the second day of the Forum, Dr. Matthew Agarwala from Cambridge University delivered a keynote presentation on policies for conserving & financing nature in developing countries, setting the stage for discussions on policies that enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainability to incentivize private investments in nature and biodiversity.

In addition to the keynote speeches and discussions, the Forum also featured GPS-sponsored work from program countries through poster displays and presentations during the coffee breaks. In addition to featuring progress, results and experiences from country activities, GPS sponsored participants from over 25 developing countries across regions participated and benefitted from the 2024 Global Policy Forum.

Visit the event page to find recordings of the Forum and other resources

PAST EVENTS

Global Forum on Natural Capital

CIC Workshop

GPS Seminar Series

South-South Knowledge Exchange

NEW GRANTS AND PUBLICATIONS

NEWS AND BLOGS

Core Implementing Countries Workshop

On the margins of the Global Forum, a technical workshop was held on March 7, 2024 with task teams and collaborating partners from the Core Implementing Countries (CIC), Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Nepal, and Türkiye. The main objectives were to review progress of GPS activities, continued relevance of the impact pathways, and to facilitate sharing of experiences and lessons among the target countries. The workshop also discussed ways to (i) overcome challenges, (ii) sharing of best practices, tools, and modeling approaches, and (iii) facilitate continued exchanges of ideas and experiences.

EVENTS

South-South Knowledge Exchange hosted by Rwanda

Nineteen participants from Ghana and Ethiopia shared their experience in natural capital accounting (NCA) in a South-South Knowledge Exchange. The main objective of this knowledge exchange was to promote dialogue between Rwanda, Ghana, and Ethiopia on the policy-led implementation of NCA.

The Exchange was hosted by the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Environment from March 7 to 9, 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda, to improve capacity for mainstreaming NCA in Ghana and Ethiopia. Several agencies from the Government of Rwanda including the Ministry of Environment; the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda; the National Land Authority; Rwanda Forestry Authority; Rwanda Water Resources Board; Rwanda Environment Management Authority; and the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board.

Participants from Ghana and Ethiopia were practitioners working on natural capital, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability from key ministries and agencies with mandates in statistics, planning, and natural resources management.

The three-day knowledge exchange included a wide range of presentations and interactive sessions. The key areas of discussion were the use of technology to support NCA, data generation, institutionalization, and sustainability of NCA. The knowledge exchange has proven invaluable to promote policy-led dialogue on NCA. The Rwandan Team shared their experience on the preparation and use of land, water, and minerals accounts, as well as efforts towards establishing a consolidated monitoring and evaluation system for the government agencies and systematization of information and data for better sustainability. Since Ghana and Ethiopia joined the GPS Core-Implementing Countries (CIC) of NCA recently, the knowledge exchange provides them an opportunity to learn from Rwanda’s experiences on the use of NCA to inform policy and investment decisions.

The exchange has also helped strengthen ties between the NCA communities in Rwanda, Ghana, and Ethiopia, as part of the Africa Community of Practice for NCA. The delegates acknowledged the hospitality of the Rwandan team and institutions and agree to have a similar knowledge exchange among other Africa countries in near future.

GPS Attends 2024 Ocean Decade Conference

The conference gathered over 1,500 in-person participants from the scientific community,

governments, NGOs, philanthropy, and UN entities.

Overall, the need for ‘relevant’ evidence-based data was highlighted in many sessions as a critical foundation to inform effective policies. There was a major call to scale up work on valuation of natural assets in an effort to make oceans count for people and the planet. The panel discussion on ocean accounting called for stepping up valuation of ocean assets and linking better data and measurements with better policies and investment decisions for the ocean.

Both PROBLUE and GPS will work collaborate to create more momentum for ocean accounting, as an input to the marine spatial planning and policy process to conserve and protect biodiversity, create jobs and unlock more resources for the blue economy.

Bekele Shiferaw, GPS Program Manager, joined a panel to discuss lessons and experiences on ocean accounting.

GPS Seminar Series

The GPS Seminar Series presents regular virtual events on the latest knowledge on how policy makers and the financial sector can integrate environmental sustainability considerations into decision Making. Topics over the past few months have included Strengthening the Capacity for Measuring and Valuing Natural Capital in Ghana, Renewable Energy: Unaccounted Wealth of Nations, and Improving Natural Capital Management in Lao PDR.

Upcoming sessions include discussions on work taking place in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Turkiye, and the latest from the ESG Data Portal.

Watch past sessions here

NEW GRANTS

Natural Capital Data for Recovery and Resilience Policy Sri Lanka

Grant amount: US$ 250,000

The objective of this targeted technical assistance (TTA) grant is to provide data and analysis that will inform dialogue and policy formulation at the nexus of natural capital, climate, development, and poverty in the context of World Bank support to Sri Lanka’s a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery from the ongoing economic, financial, and social (“poly”) crisis and enhancing resilience to climate change.

The TTA among other deliverables, plans to inform the Bill of Reforestation and Forest Cover that is currently being drafted by the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation. This bill recognizes Sri Lanka’s NDC commitment to extend forest cover from 29% to 32% and increase the quantity of carbon sequestered by forests by 7%, by 2030. Furthermore, the Forest Sector Master Plan which was adopted in 2023, foresees enhancement of tree resources outside of forests, such as biodiversity corridors, urban green areas, shelterbelts. The TTA will help identify priority areas.

Assessing the Value of Nature and Integrating it into Macro Modeling for Botswana and Namibia

Grant amount: US$ 70,000

The objective of this just-in-time (JIT) technical assistance is to quantify the expected impact of climate change on selected ecosystem services (e.g., nature tourism, pollination, sediment retention, carbon storage) in Botswana and Namibia and to incorporate this evidence into the quantitative assessment as part of the Botswana-Namibia Country Climate Development Report (CCDR).

Accelerating Access to Clean Air

Grant amount: US$ 50,000

Objective: This grant will be used to finance a desk review to explore the impact of air pollution on ecosystem services. It will also support analysis of the effects of air pollution on households through cookstove usage while exploring inclusive solutions for vulnerable groups, including women, children and the poor. The activities will include an extensive literature review to gather existing knowledge, reports, and publications related to the topic. The analysis will be done using available household data and socioeconomic indicators. These efforts will help identify areas where air pollution poses significant threats to ecosystem services and pinpoint regions/groups with high vulnerability levels while proposing solutions and recommendations to reduce the impacts of air pollution on nature and people in an inclusive manner.

FROM OUR CORE IMPLEMENTING COUNTRIES

Streamlining investment planning through Ethiopia's Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) program

One of the initiatives under Ethiopia's Resilient and Green Development Advisory Services and Analytics (RGD-ASA) is the Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) program. Ethiopia’s NCA program seeks to assist in institutionalizing NCA in decision making for use in development, policy, and investment planning through its three pillars namely data, analytics, and institutional strengthening.

So far, as part of the capacity building plan, the NCA program has organized five trainings on NCA, Investment Prioritization Tool (IPT) and System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) Framework. The trainings include hands-on capacity building and technical workshops on NCA, IPT, as well as hands-on training on land and ecosystem services accounts and the IPT. Participants from Technical Working Groups (TWGs), NCA focal points, national and regional teams, as well as relevant stakeholders from Ethiopian government line ministries and agencies, academia, and research institutes have taken part in the workshops and trainings.

Considering the Government of Ethiopia’s effort to implement a Climate Resilient and Green Economy, the NCA initiative has completed a data and institutional assessment to stock of available data sources and data-sharing mechanisms, and supported the establishment of the Technical Working Group (TWG) and a Steering Committee on NCA, chaired by the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD). In coordination with the NCA TWG, a preliminary land cover classification for the year 2013 and 2022 was developed, including thirteen major land cover classes, which would be the preparation of land accounts.

Similarly, under the IPT workstream, a TWG has been established chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). IPT has informed the selection of investment areas and watershed prioritization criteria of the Climate Action through Landscape Management (CALM) World Bank Project and Ethiopia’s Strategic Investment Framework (ESIF) for Sustainable Landscape Management.

Based on the efforts of the NCA and IPT technical working groups as well as the World Bank's advisory and analytics support, the NCA team has identified key next steps to further mainstream NCA into policy and investment decisions, including completion of the land account, planning for ecosystem services and extent accounts, developing a roadmap for the institutionalization of the NCA, additional capacity building on NCA and knowledge transfer to MoA to ensure adoption and management of the IPT.

Fig 2: Land Cover Classification for 2013 and 2022 for the development of land account

Fig 3: Investment Prioritization Tool (IPT) for sustainable land management (SLM)

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Solar Irrigation and Sustainability

This paper, recently published in Science, explores the opportunities and limitations of using solar irrigation in agriculture and opposing dimensions of sustainability. While solar irrigation helps in the expansion of renewable energy and improves incomes of small farmers, it will very likely lead to more groundwater being abstracted.

Read>> World Bank Blog

Access paper

Can Nature-Based Solution be the Panacea to the Looming Crisis of Climate Change-Induced Water Scarcity in Tunisia?

Tunisia faces severe water scarcity crisis induced by climate change (less rain and higher temperatures) which has out-smarted government efforts. Urgent albeit innovative nature-based solutions will be crucial to fending off the looming water crisis. This report utilized InVEST seasonal water yield (SWY) ecosystem services model to provide new insights and fresh handle for transforming water availability and management, including practical nature-based climate actions for protecting dams from siltation, boosting aquifer recharge, preventing surface runoff, and fostering water quality in a sustainable manner. The ecosystem services modelling and related economic analysis informed the "Climate and Development" report for Tunisia” which was launched in Tunis on February 23, 2024.