Boosting energy efficiency is critical for addressing climate change. This episode explores lessons on how to scale up energy efficiency efforts to fully realize their potential. 

Dr. Agnes Kalibata, president of AGRA, explores with host, Brenda Barbour, the importance of resilient agrifood systems in promoting long-term food security, and how the World Bank Group and other actors can support countries in developing agrifood systems that are productive, resilient, and sustainable.

Related Resources

• IEG Evaluation: Toward Productive, Inclusive, and Sustainable Farms and Agribusiness Firms: An Evaluation of the World Bank Group’s Support for the Development of Agrifood Economies (2010–20)

This episode unpacks lessons about factors that facilitated the World Bank Group's strong response to the pandemic and explores areas that can be strengthened to boost crisis preparedness as we navigate compounding crises.

Related Resources

• IEG Evaluation: The World Bank’s Early Support to Addressing COVID-19 Health and Social Response

Disasters caused by natural hazards increasingly threaten the lives and livelihoods of the world’s poor. In this episode, we will explore how a more severe risk environment has been reshaping the way the World Bank and its partners approach disaster risk reduction. 

Every year, the world generates 2 billion tons of trash, including 400 million tons of plastic. Most of this waste is mismanaged, piling up and flowing into our oceans, adding to greenhouse gas emissions and land and water pollution. A long-term solution requires the world to shift to a circular economy. What does circularity entail? What can we learn from global efforts to tackle solid waste, and in particular plastics? 

Host Jeff Chelsky talks trash with Steve Fletcher, Professor of Ocean Policy and Economy at the University of Portsmouth, to take stock of lessons from a waste crisis that is disproportionately affecting people in poverty.

Development Policy Financing (DPF) is a major instrument of multilateral development banks and has played a prominent role in the World Bank’s pandemic response. Also known as policy-based lending, DPF is a fast-dispersing instrument that provides non-earmarked funds to a country's national budget. How does DPF work and how successful has it been in achieving its various goals? The World Bank’s Director of Policy Operations, Stéphane Guimbert, and IEG host Jeff Chelsky take stock of the trends and lessons of using policy-based lending to support developing economies.

Conversation highlights:

[00:04-07:55] How does Development Policy Financing (DPF) and its prior actions work?

[07:56-14:44] What are key lessons emanating from the Bank’s fifth DPF Retrospective?

[14:45-20:07] The role of Development Policy Operations (DPOs) in crisis response.

[20:08-22:25] Measuring success – what makes a DPO good?

[22:26-25:08] The use of DPOs in countries affected by fragility, conflict or violence (FCV).

[25:09-27:30] Determining the size of a Development Policy Operation.

Data are vital for understanding the progress and impact of strategies in global development. New technologies coupled with increased computing power are creating opportunities for gathering and analyzing ever larger amounts of data from a greater range of sources. In addition, remote data collection has played an important role in getting around the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But innovative use of technology began before the pandemic. How have new technologies influenced data gathering and use, and what are their implications for learning from evidence and for evaluating efforts in international development?     

More than a billion people live in areas affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. Climate change and the COVID pandemic threaten to drive that number even higher. How have the World Bank Group and the range of actors involved in development adapted to address new and persistent sources of insecurity, and what are the lessons for future efforts aimed at fostering development and stability?

What have we learned from tackling previous debt crises? We discuss the conditions that steered low-income countries into the current wave of debt distress and possible paths development organizations can take to prevent a new crisis.

What have we learned about measuring results in international development? We are less than a decade from delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs touch on some of the most profound challenges facing humanity, such as ending poverty and reducing inequality. What does it mean to assess results on this massive agenda?