Environment and Youth at the World Bank

1. Environment and Youth at the World Bank J. Warren EvansDirectorEnvironment Department World Bank Group Youth Employment Summit October 4, 2004

2. Outline • Core Development Challenge • The World Bank • Key Environmental Challenges • The Environment Family at the World Bank • How the World Bank is Engaging Youth in Development

3. 1. Core Development Challenge • Substantial growth in output and productivity in developing countries to provide work and a good quality of life for the existing 2.8 billion people living under $2/day and the 2-3 billion to be added to world population in next 30-50 years • Has to be done while maintaining the ecosystems that underpin life and sustain development

4. 2. The World Bank One of the world’s largest sources of development assistance (e.g. lending, technical assistance, etc.) • We work in more than 100 developing economies • Primary focus: helping the poorest people and the poorest countries • Finance, infrastructure, labor market reform, etc. • Investing in people • Education, health, social protection, HIV/AIDS • Investing in environment • Biodiversity, carbon finance, climate change, coastal and marine management, desertification, environmental assessment, environmental economics and indicators, GEF, etc.

5. The World Bank - Our People • Total Bank staff numbers about 10,000. 7,000 at HQ and 3,000 in the field • Developing country nationals represent 55% of total staff at HQ • In recent years, there has been an increase in the presence of young staff at the Bank. Currently, there are 200 Junior Professional Associates, 72 Young Professionals, and hundreds of young consultants working in various roles

6. 3. Key Environmental Challenges • Managing environmental health risks • Maintaining the balance between growth and ecosystem carrying capacity • Ensuring natural capital is managed in a sustainable mannerfor the welfare of current and future generations • Anticipating new threats: climate change, urban migration, fisheries, livestock revolution, conflicts and natural resource management • Respond to agrowing public demand for environmental improvements in the developing world

7. Emerging Issues in Environment • Main Goal of World Bank Environment Strategy: • Promote environmental improvements as a condition for growth and poverty reduction, leading to tangible impacts on quality of life, quality of growth, and quality of the global commons • The MDGs – Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability • Specific targets to integrate sustainable development into policies and programs, reverse the losses of environmental resources, halve proportion of people without access to improved water source, and achieve improvements in lives of 100 million urban slum dwellers. • WSSD in Johannesburg: • A comprehensive platform to look at long-term sustainable development, growth and poverty-environment linkages • International targets on sanitation, fisheries,water resource management, chemicals • Kyoto protocol and other International Environmental Agreements

8. 4. The Environment Family at the World Bank • Analytical work • Mainstreaming in CAS, PRSP, and other sectors • Lending • Global programs (GEF, Montreal Protocol, Carbon Finance) • Safeguard policies

9. Areas of Progress — The World Bank • Improved understanding of environmental factors linked to growth and poverty reduction • Improving cross-sectoral links — “mainstreaming” • Better integration of environmental objectives in World Bank lending • Innovative financing to support environment and development • Aligning resources and need by focusing on results on the ground • Focusing on overlaps between global and local environmental benefits • Effective outreach and partnerships

10. The World Bank – Environment Lending Trends • Environmental lending in FY04 = $1.3 billion (6% of total Bank lending for FY04) • Active environmental portfolio in FY04 = $11.2 billion (12% of total Bank active portfolio)

11. The Environment Family at the World Bank - Our People • Over 200 Technical Staff • Roughly 89% in HQ and 11% in the field • There are 3 Junior Professional Associates, 2 Young Professionals, several young consultants working in the ENV anchor. There are many other young staff working in the various regions and in local offices. These young staff work with such themes as: • Biodiversity • Safeguard Policies including Environmental Assessment • Carbon Finance • Global Environment Facility

12. 5. How the World Bank is Engaging Youth in Development • Institutional Mechanisms • Children and Youth Framework for Action development • Senior Vice President coordinates implementation of Children & Youth Agenda • All regions appointed regional Children and Youth focal point persons • Knowledge Building: Research, Technical Assistance, Trainings • Operations: Lending, Youth Participation at Country Level • Advocacy: Conferences, Dialogues • Partnerships • UN System, bilateral donors, Youth Employment Network • Youth Voices: establishing consultative groups in country offices

13. Youth Participation at the Country Level • 14 New Voices groups • 7 Groups are underway • 6 Groups are in the planning stage • New Voices groups have been engaged in many different activities • E.g. national Children and Youth strategies, revision of Country Assistance Strategies, portfolio activities, post-conflict mediation • www.worldbank.org/childrenandyouth

14. Y2Y Network – Building an informal network for dialogue and interaction • Community of young professionals in development institutions • Provides new perspectives to the Bank • Promotes youth capacity building • Serves as a bridge to young people outside • Help mainstream youth issues in the institution • www.y2ycommunity.org • Youthink: Action = Results • Website provides information about global issues that matter to young people today • Allows youth to explore the research, knowledge and experience gathered by World Bank experts on issues like poverty, development, and conflict • http://www.youthink.worldbank.org/

15. Youth Environment Team (YET) – Engaging Youth and Mainstreaming Environment • YET is a group of young professionals in the Environment Department working to encourage environmental awareness and action within the youth community internally and externally • Some of YET’s objectives include: • To include youth as a stakeholder in World Bank’s environmental projects • To provide a forum for knowledge sharing • To establish partnerships with other youth and environment focused entities • Proposed activities: • Development Market Place • Knowledge sharing • On the ground work: Education for Sustainable Societies, Local youth field guides

16. What the Bank can contribute to youth issues • Capacity to generate knowledge and to apply it across “development borders”: e.g., education, health, labor markets, private sector development, etc • Portfolio of Bank projects and operations that help young people (education, health, labor market insertion, etc.) • Ability to combine financing with tried and true insights from developing countries • Convening influence at both international and national levels • Interest in working with diverse partners to achieve development goals

17. What is the Bank doing? • Through its traditional analytic work including education, health, infrastructure and rural development, the Bank has affected the lives of young men and women in all regions; • The number of projects with youth employment component has been significant over the past decade, both in terms of numbers and of total lending, but scattered • New focus is on youth employment as a cross sectoral theme, • Emphasis on the need for a more evidence-based approach to support the policy dialogue

18. What youth can contribute to help the Bank meet its mandate • A fresh, experience-based perspective on development issues • A long-term commitment • Resources, experience, and capabilities • Creativity and enthusiasm for development • Willingness to participate and contribute • Global organizations and networks with global reach and knowledge • Knowledge of an access to grass root realities and local communities; experience with community-driven approaches • Energy to build more inclusive, responsive, and effective public policies and program implementation processes

19. Muchas Gracias