- Q: How does sustainable energy support small businesses?
- A: Investments in sustainable energy, such as wind or solar projects, support job and business creation in two ways. First, by providing direct opportunities for the development of small businesses that work on these projects. Second, by increasing the number of small businesses that are operated out of homes, since they depend on a reliable, affordable energy source to operate.
World Bank: A Holistic Approach to Environmental Sustainability
The good news is that efforts to expand access to safe drinking water are on track to achieve this target in most regions: the proportion of the world’s population with access increased from 76% to 86% between 1990 and 2006. MDG 7 also calls for improving access to sanitation as well as integrating sustainable development into country policies and programs, but progress on this target is slower. Land is still being degraded, forests are being lost, and species are becoming extinct, as carbon emissions continue to change the environment we live in. The World Bank has been integrating Environmental and Natural Resource Management (ENRM) activities increasingly into agriculture, water sanitation, urban, and other projects to help counter these losses. On average, ENRM activities have accounted for 9% of total new World Bank lending over the past 5 years.
A vocational center in Morocco prepares students for new jobs in the energy sector.
- We can support environmental sustainability by:
- investing in clean energy
- making infrastructure improvements
- increasing access to sanitation
- offering technical assistance
- promoting ecosystem-based solutions
Making Strides in Environmental Sustainability
The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, has been protecting national and global resources by integrating environment into economy-wide policy and development planning.
Our Environmental Sustainability Strategy
- Improve the management of water resources
- Reduce the impacts of climate variability and change
- Develop the technical knowledge to achieve environmental sustainability
Some of Our MDG 7 Results
IDA is helping countries achieve MDG 7 through $4.7 billion in financing over the past decade in support of environmental and natural resource management.
- Vietnam: Increased number of people with access to safe water from 60% in 1990 to 94% in 2008.
- Armenia: Protected more than 500,000 people through dam rehabilitation.
- Moldova: Reduced electricity grid losses 22% between 2002 and 2007.
How’s the World Doing?
- 1.6 billion people gained access to clean drinking water from 1990 to 2006.
- 76 countries are on track to hit the drinkable water target.
- 2.5 billion people still lack basic sanitation.
- 13 million hectares of forest are still lost every year.
