Press Release
World Bank releases Development Report 2010, co-authored by SNRE Dean Bierbaum
Today's enormous development challenges are complicated by the reality of climate change -- the two are inextricably linked and together demand immediate attention. Climate change threatens all countries, but particularly developing ones. Understanding what climate change means for development policy is the central aim of the World Development Report 2010, or WDR 2010.
Timed ahead of the December meetings on climate change in Copenhagen, the WDR says developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but only if financial and technical assistance from high-income countries is forthcoming.
The report was released at 10 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, Sept. 15, in the Eugene Black Auditorium at the World Bank H Building (1914 G St., NW) in Washington, D.C. View the World Bank press release
The WDR 2010 explores how public policy can change to better help people cope with new or worsened risks, how land and water management must adapt to better protect a threatened natural environment while feeding an expanding and more prosperous population, and how energy systems will need to be transformed.
Rosina M. Bierbaum, dean of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, spent more than a year overseeing the research and writing the WDR with co-director Marianne Fay, a World Bank global economist. The report will play a large role in shaping the international debate regarding connections among climate change, economic growth and poverty reduction.
The WDR, published annually since 1978, is a guide to the economic, social and environmental state of the world. Each year, the report provides an in-depth analysis of a specific aspect of development.
To produce this year's report, Dean Bierbaum, Fay and others on their team received input from academic advisers and applied researchers on five continents. The team carried out consultations, in person and remotely, in dozens of nations.
"This report will be unlike any other," Dean Bierbaum said. "It not only synthesizes the latest policy questions and scientific data, but attempts to present a road map to respond to this global problem." (More information about the report can be found at www.worldbank.org/wdr2010.)
Launch speakers are: Justin Lin, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Development Economics; Kathy Sierra, Vice President for Sustainable Development; and Dean Bierbaum.
Dean Bierbaum profile: http://www.snre.umich.edu/profile/rbierbau
Dean Bierbaum World Bank blog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/team/rosina-bierbaum
World Bank blog by Nate Engle, SNRE doctoral student: http://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/team/nate-engle
