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How can water resource agencies make smart investments to ensure long-term water reliability when the future is fraught with deep climate and economic uncertainty? This study helped SEDAPAL, the water utility serving Lima, Peru, answer this question by drawing on state of the art methods for decision making under deep uncertainty. These methods provide techniques for evaluating the performance of a water system over a wide range of plausible futures and then developing strategies that are robust across these futures. Rather than weighting futures probabilistically to define an optimal strategy, these methodologies identify the vulnerabilities of a system and then evaluate the key trade-offs among different adaptive strategies. Through extensive iteration and collaboration with SEDAPAL, the study used these methods to define an investment strategy that is robust, ensuring water reliability across as wide a range of future conditions as possible while also being economically efficient. First,on completion, the study helped SEDAPAL realize that not all projects included in the Master Plan were necessary to achieve water reliability, and the utility could save 25 percent (more than $600 million) in investment costs. Second, the study helped focus future efforts on demand-side management, pricing, and soft infrastructure, a refocusing that is difficult to achieve in traditional utility companies. Third, the study helped SEDAPAL gain the support of regulatory and budget agencies through the careful analysis of alternatives. Fourth, the study allowed the utility to postpone lower priority investments, and to analyze future options based on climate and demand information that simply is not available now.

Associated gas monetization via mini gas to liquids (GTL) is the third in a series of reports, starting in February 2012, that describe technologies for the conversion of small volumes (in the range 1 to 20 million standard cubic feet per day or about 10 to 200 million cubic meters per annum) of gas into liquid fuels and chemicals. The technologies are very applicable for utilization of gas currently being flared. The reports describe the various technologies currently available, the companies offering these technologies to the market, and assessments of the readiness of each technology for commercial application. The latest report (No. III) finds a number of technologies are now being applied commercially, with even more ready to take that step.

This study draws upon state-of-the-art methods for decision making under deep uncertainty (DMU) to give SEDAPAL and decision makers in Lima answers to pressing questions. It draws upon several methodologies including Robust Decision Making, Decision Scaling, and Adaptive Pathways, to prioritize the investments in SEDAPAL’s Master Plan. Together these methods help define an investment strategy that is robust, ensuring water reliability across as wide a range of future conditions as possible while also being economically efficient.

This paper's objective is to strengthen the capacity of various institutions in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation for sustainable water resources management, and to develop training tools for innovative techniques for further dissemination to state agencies and other stakeholders.

This strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a technical piece intended to assist in the current and future identification of priority industrial pollutants and economic instruments to minimize industrial waste. This industrial sector SEA is one of six pieces of technical support envisioned by the Himachal Pradesh (HP) inclusive green growth (IGG) development policy loan (DPL) to fill knowledge gaps and strengthen operational success of the DPL. The DPL acknowledges that industrial development is an important economic driver within HP, and that such development must be consistent with maintaining the integrity of other natural resource assets on which human health depend. The general objectives of the SEA study are: (i) to assist in identification of priority pollutants and industries; (ii) to review existing institutional structures that address these pollutants; (iii) to identify and recommend potential reform options through the introduction of new policy approaches; and (iv) to identify complementary institutional support necessary to implement such a program. The SEA was undertaken from April to December 2013 based on secondary data collection, existing literature, various consultative meetings with key stakeholders, and diagnostic analyses of this information. The purpose of the consultations was to discuss the findings, issues, and preliminary directions suggested by the desk reviews, and to initiate a work plan for amassing additional information. The SEA has included participatory approaches to ensure that presented policy changes are designed and implemented in a way that is responsive to the different segments of HP society. This report is presented in three parts. Part one forms a foundation for focusing subsequent diagnostic work by providing more extensive detail on the institutional context, pollution situation, health and environmental linkages, and opportunities for using economic instruments. Part two performs additional diagnostic analyses to inform the core recommendations relating to options for new economic instruments, institutional reforms, and capacity building; these recommendations are presented in part three.

There is an urgent need to provide practical guidelines for Chinese decision makers and officials to better understand the key issues and constraints related to rural wastewater management and to identify feasible solutions and tools to improve the performance and sustainability of these projects. To address these needs, the World Bank has developed this guide for wastewater management in rural villages in China. The Guide is intended to be a useful resource for Chinese policy makers and practitioners. It includes a review of historical and current policies and practices related to wastewater management in rural China. The Guide outlines a framework and strategies for establishing municipal and village level wastewater management programs. The overall objective of the guide is to identify key issues and to present effective strategies and approaches to implement sustainable wastewater management programs at the local jurisdictions in order to improve rural sanitation in China. A key objective of the guide is to present institutional, programmatic and technical guidelines that can be adopted by local jurisdictions, forming the basis for consistent, affordable, practical, and effective sanitation project planning, design, implementation, and operations.

This presentation proposes that BPO and other ICT development have a potential to be a major catalysts for economic growth and socio-economic transformation. It claims that IT-BPO sectors development represents major promises that potentially can transform the Philippine economy and also foster inclusive growth. The presentation postulates that the importance of IT-BPO industry development goes beyond the debate of picking industry winners. It argues that the BPO industry is poised to have a substantive impact on the country and that especially so if there simultaneously is major growth in other ICT sectors and the scale and scope local usage of ICTs. It claims that expanded scale and scope of BPO industry in conjunction with further development of IT services, Telecom and other ICTs industries coupled with the advancement in education, science & technology can be principal factors that can transform the Philippine economy and its interface with the rest of the world.

The report looks critically at the water resources and the current and projected future water demands in the Southern Gobi Region (SGR) using the widely dispersed data and information that are currently available. An important conclusion of the report is that almost all the significant sources of groundwater in the SGR are 'fossil' or 'non-renewable', meaning that they are finite resources which cannot be replenished. Not only will that, but pumping water out of these fosil aquifers tend to cause a drop in the groundwater levels above them. The report proposes practical steps by which water resources development and management could be managed to best serve economic and infrastructure development while giving attention to environmental protection and service to communities in the SGR. The report also highlights the urgent need for more data. A more detailed picture of the distribution and quantity of the groundwater would give planners first, a better idea of both the limits to the growth of the SGR; and, second, of the future water demands, its spatial distribution, quality requirements, and the possibilities to increase water use efficiency and water re-use. Thus there is a need to bring all information and data together to form the basis for rational planning.

This briefing note provides a rapid scan of partnership initiatives by the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) to improve the state of water and sanitation services in Africa. The note aims to highlight the gains and challenges of the major collaborative initiatives, focusing on where progress has been made or activities are ongoing at a strategic, thematic, and regional or country level. The collaboration is now focusing on: a) intensifying operational cooperation and joint work in additional African countries, including fragile and post-conflict countries; b) continuing to share information and to participate in capacity-building activities, with an emphasis on training in operational contexts; c) intensifying joint work in water supply, and particularly sanitation and hygiene; and, d) developing a monitoring system focused on results rather than inputs.