The Environmental and Social Safeguards Unit (ESG) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is pleased to announce the launch of a new learning platform on managing environmental and social risks. With this new feature, all our online courses are in one place. In 2016, ESG began offering online training to increase the capacity of counterpart government officials who review and approve Environmental and Social Impact Assessments.
The thriving cities of tomorrow will be sustainable cities. To meet the new demands and opportunities of rapid urbanization, climate change and technology, they will need innovative urban services that address challenges such as getting people from home to work safely and efficiently, lighting streets more cost-effectively, or reducing runoff and risk of flooding. Alternative sustainable service solutions and innovations exist today, including transit-oriented development, LED street lighting, pervious surfaces, and capture and reuse strategies.
How can businesses, large and small, make their supply chains more climate resilient and simultaneously more profitable? Almost any supply chain, but particularly those that are dependent on natural resources, will experience the impacts of a changing climate in all its parts.
“We will reach a point in the next years where we won’t have water for the population, nor for the industries or businesses”. This somber forecast by Alfonso Martinez Muñoz, Undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the State of Nuevo León, has propelled a collaboration among a range of stakeholders in the city of Monterrey to come up with solutions to better manage the water supply. Monterrey is located in the state of Nuevo León, where dry and semi-dry climates predominate, making it highly vulnerable to scarcity or lack of water.
Normally when designing operations at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), we analyze the institutional capacity of the executing agency and corresponding national authorities in order to mitigate environmental and social risks. But, is it possible that we’re keeping local authorities and communities –who are the first to feel the impacts and to supervise mitigation measures– in the dark?
Can climate change have an impact on Latin American and Caribbean jobs? Although they might seem as unrelated matters, the reality is that climate change has the potential to disrupt labor markets in the region both directly (through events such as floods, hurricanes, heat waves, and changes in precipitation patterns) and indirectly (through changes in regulations and policies meant to fight climate change, such as green taxes or emission reduction policies). The good news is that evidence suggests that transitioning to a zero-carbon economy will result in a net creation of jobs.
Cattle ranching has been put on the hot seat, accused mainly of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as its impact with respect to soil degradation on marginalized lands, and deforestation. On the other hand, the meat that comes from cattle ranchers can be part of a balanced diet, offering worthwhile nutritional benefits for overall health.