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Africa: End of the Commodity Super-Cycle Weighs on Growth

Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth will slow in 2015 to 4.0 percent from 4.5 percent in 2014, according to World Bank projections released today. This downturn largely reflects the fall in the prices of oil and other commodities, notes Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly

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UN Spotlights Key Role of Evaluation in New Development Agenda

Evaluation will become more necessary for the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, a United Nations body said today, as it launched a new publication highlighting the critical role of assessment in enhancing the UN’s effectiveness, cultivating change and empowering nations. “We

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The Renewable Electricity Grid: The Future Is Now

New World Bank report finds that with the right policies and investments, countries can integrate high levels of variable renewable energy such as solar and wind into their power grids without compromising the reliability or affordability of electricity Together with

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China: Now You See It, Now You Don’t

At long last, China is living its very own Silent Spring. Or not. Since late February, well over 300 million Chinese have watched the 103-minute online documentary Under the Dome – a powerful crowd-funded exposé of air pollution and other

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Brazil: Arrest of Fraudsters Decreases Deforestation Rate

One man can make a difference. Since Brazilian authorities in August 2014 issued an arrest warrant and forced Ezequiel Antônio Castanha into hiding, deforestation rates along the northern stretch of the BR-163 highway have decreased by as much as 65%.

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New World Bank Green Bond Is a Story of Market Growth and Innovation

Green bonds have created a new way for investors to achieve the return they need while also supporting climate-friendly development projects. Many long-term investors today consider climate risk and sustainability in their investment choices. The investor base in green bonds

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World Bank Group: Sovereign Wealth Funds Investing at Home – Opportunity Fraught with Risk

By Håvard Halland, Alan Gelb, and Silvana Tordo  Following the recent discoveries of large oil and gas deposits in East Africa, a number of countries in the region are in the process of establishing, or are discussing the creation of,

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Sustainable Stock Exchanges – A Conversation with Nasdaq Vice-Chairperson: Sandy Frucher

What is the sustainable stock exchange movement? When we talk about the sustainable stock exchanges project specifically, we’re talking about a UN-based project that has been in the works for several years now. This initiative aims to explore how exchanges

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MIGA (World Bank): FDI – Treading Carefully into Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations

More than 1.5 billion people – about one in five of the global population – live in what the World Bank Group terms “fragile and conflict-affected situations” (FCS). For many investors, these countries are “no-go” zones due to their weak

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Roderick and Floris Wolters: Freezing the Sun

Rummaging through the archives of Twente Technical University, two enterprising students struck gold: An experiment carried out around the turn of the century but not taken to the next level. After a bit of tinkering, the brothers Roderick and Floris

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