Suchergebnisse

Strategy 2030 of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) identified "making cities more livable" as one of its seven operational priorities. This operational plan sets out the direction and approach for ADB to help its developing member countries (DMCs) build livable cities that are green, competitive, inclusive, and resilient. It also details ADB's strategic operational priorities to provide support to cities in DMCs to help them develop the right institutions, policies, and enabling environments to become more livable.

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) support to urban development in the Asia-Pacific Region is based on its Urban Sector Strategy approved in 1999 and later the approval of 2012–2020 Urban Operational Plan (UOP) to address the vision of ADB's Strategy 2020. The launch of its Urban Financing Partnership Facility (UFPF) in 2009 has helped support innovative solutions in the urban space. Support from the UFPF largely addresses work in ADB's urban development and water divisions, which together constitute the Urban Sector Group (USG). The USG's Secretariat is responsible for managing the UFPF in addition to other trust funds and knowledge activities. Leading through to 2030, the USG will support the strategic targets of ADB's proposed Strategy 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily on Goal 11: Making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, and other goals associated with urban development. This includes scaling up previous activities with potential for supporting competitive, green, and inclusive growth, and leveraging climate financing.

This mid-year report covers the period January to June 2017. It describes the activities undertaken by Urban Environmental Infrastructure Fund (UEIF) and the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) in the first half of the year, and a brief overview of the activities under the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) program as it transitions into a trust fund under UFPF. The Urban Environmental Infrastructure Fund (UEIF) has been instrumental in seeing through the completion of three initiatives in various states and cities in India. The funding extended under direct charge financing translated into the provision of technical support and capacity building activities aimed at assisting states carry out India's national flagship urban programs. Areas covered include solid waste management, water supply, and wastewater, among others. On the implementation of investment grants, substantial gains have been achieved in terms of the completion of project activities. Although there were some delays experienced, overall implementation progress remains to be on the positive side.

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) support to urban development in the Asia-Pacific Region is based on its Urban Sector Strategy approved in 1999 and later the approval of 2012–2020 Urban Operational Plan (UOP) to address the vision of ADB's Strategy 2020. The launch of its Urban Financing Partnership Facility (UFPF) in 2009 has helped support innovative solutions in the urban space. Support from the UFPF largely addresses work in ADB's urban development and water divisions, which together constitute the Urban Sector Group (USG). The USG's Secretariat is responsible for managing the UFPF in addition to other trust funds and knowledge activities. Leading through to 2030, the USG will support the strategic targets of ADB's proposed Strategy 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily on Goal 11: Making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, and other goals associated with urban development. This includes scaling up previous activities with potential for supporting competitive, green, and inclusive growth, and leveraging climate financing.

This mid-year report covers the period January to June 2016. It describes the activities undertaken by Urban Environmental Infrastructure Fund (UEIF) and the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) in the first half of the year, and a brief overview of the activities under the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) program as it transitions into a trust fund under UFPF. The Urban Environmental Infrastructure Fund (UEIF) has been instrumental in seeing through the completion of three initiatives in various states and cities in India. The funding extended under direct charge financing translated into the provision of technical support and capacity building activities aimed at assisting states carry out India's national flagship urban programs. Areas covered include solid waste management, water supply, and wastewater, among others. On the implementation of investment grants, substantial gains have been achieved in terms of the completion of project activities. Although there were some delays experienced, overall implementation progress remains to be on the positive side.

This document provides guidance for urban planners on how to use land use management-related tools they have at their disposal—land use planning, development control instruments, greenfield development, and urban redevelopment—to reduce disaster risk and contribute to strengthening urban resilience and sustainable urban development. The guidance provided in the document is further illustrated through case studies showing examples where urban land use management-related tools have been adopted to reduce disaster risk. It is hoped that this document will support urban planners as a professional group to step up and embrace disaster risk reduction.

This book about the urban agenda in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is timely as the world economy embraces the region with accelerated growth. An important element of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community, the GMS is expected to catch up with the rest of Asia by 2050. With urbanization levels still averaging about 30%, gross domestic product contributions of towns and cities have moved ahead to 50%–60%. By 2050, when urban areas in the GMS reach 64%–74%, urban gross domestic product will grow to an estimated 70%–80%. The challenge lies in consolidating and deepening development along the existing corridors and improving the environmental conditions to prepare for future green growth developments.

GrEEEn Solutions for Livable Cities is a result of a 2-year innovative, exploratory, and reflective study of cities as unique urban spaces that support life, work, and play. It responds to major issues that affect the quality of life of urban residents. This publication offers practical ways on how urban managers, urban practitioners, businesspeople, and citizens can engage to make cities more livable by building on their distinctive physical, social, cultural, and economic characteristics. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations, the book comes at the right time to offer integrated urban development solutions that can translate global development commitments into urban-level actions to achieve livable cities.

RIJEČ UREDNIŠTVAViše puta pisali smo o tome kako smo očekivali da će ova Vlada ponajprije vratiti šumarstvo u naziv resornog ministarstva, a potom i promijeniti odnos prema šumi i šumarskoj struci. To se na žalost nije dogodilo, tako da je šumarski resor u Ministarstvu na razini dijelova poljoprivrede, primjerice povrtlarstva, iako se radi o resursu koji pokriva gotovo polovicu kopnene površine Republike Hrvatske. O tome da je šuma najsloženiji ekosustav na svijetu, koji samim time zahtijeva visoku stručnost gospodarenja njime pa je i u Ustavu naznačeno da je šuma uz tlo i vode resurs od posebnog interesa za Republiku Hrvatsku, u uređenom gospodarstvu ne bi trebalo to opetovano govoriti. Ne inzistiramo na tome da resorni ministar mora biti istaknuti šumarski stručnjak, ali to onda mora biti državni tajnik ili pomoćnik ministra zadužen za šumarstvo. Ministar pak treba koristiti svaku priliku da se informira o struci, sastavnici njegovog resora, a najlakše će to učiniti nazočnošću barem na nekoliko stručnih skupova na kojima se znanstveno-stručno raspravlja o stanju i problemima u struci – njegovom resoru. Nažalost, smijenjeni resorni ministar nije nazočio niti jednom takvom skupu, pa niti onome u organizaciji Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti, što ocjenjujemo i podcjenjivanjem struke, ali i ove znanstvene institucije. Vidljivi trag u šumarstvu ostavio je jedino osnivanjem "svoje" Uprave šuma, smanjujući površine susjednih Uprava. Trenutno naš resor vodi drvni tehnolog, što je nelogično, a s čime se očito šumarska struka prešutno slaže, što je pak sramotno. Tko nam uopće vodi i kakvu šumarsku politiku i imamo li dobru strategiju da je provodimo? Kome je zapravo podređena šumarska politika? Opći je dojam da je vode drvoprerađivači i to nažalost oni primarne prerade drva, naravno po netržišnim uvjetima i zanemarujući načela potrajnog gospodarenja. U svome obraćanju nazočnima na znanstveno-stručnom skupu održanom u povodu Dana hrvatskoga šumarstva, predsjednik Hrvatskoga šumarskog društva Oliver Vlainić, naznačio je sadašnje probleme šumarstva i stavove struke. Nemamo ništa tome za dodati, nego upućujemo čitatelje da u prošlom dvobroju časopisa pročitaju prikaz sa spomenutoga skupa. Dakle, struka opominje i ukazuje na alarmantno stanje u šumarstvu, kojega resorno ministarstvo očito ne prepoznaje.Za saniranje stanja nakon ledoloma i vjetroloma u Gorskom kotaru i situacije s katastrofalnim sušenjem jasena te nadolazećega problema s hrastom, našom najvrjednijom vrstom drveća, bit će potrebna znatna financijska sredstva. Gdje ih pronaći ako smo novim Zakonom o šumama znatno smanjili priliv financijskih sredstava od naknade za općekorisne funkcije šuma (OKFŠ), a drvne sortimente prodajemo i dalje po netržišnim uvjetima? Nismo trebali dugo čekati da nova ministrica Odlukom o smanjenju naknada za šume i šumska zemljišta, pokaže kako će se odnositi prema šumi i šumarstvu. Vrijednost bodova je smanjena za 30 do 90 %, ovisno o uzgojnom obliku šume. To će, kaže ona, ubrzati investicijske projekte, jer su navodno mnoge investicije u kojima je bilo potrebno izdvojiti šumu ili šumsko zemljište iz šumsko-gospodarskih planova, bile dovedene u pitanje zbog previsoke naknade za lokalnu i regionalnu samoupravu. Naravno, "nisu ludi" platiti privatnicima, koji imaju na stotine tisuća hektara zapuštenog i zaraslog zemljišta, kada je državno (čitaj općenarodno) gotovo besplatno. Uostalom, za njih primjerice: šikara, šibljak, makija, garig i nije "neka šuma". A najnovije je najava novoga smanjenja naknade za općekorisne funkcije šuma "povećanjem granice ukupnog godišnjeg prihoda i primitka s 3.000.000,00 kn na 7.500.000,00 kn " što je obrazloženo opterećenjem, kako na poduzetnike, tako i na administrativnu obradu". Ionako smanjenim sredstvima OKFŠ-a, koja se danas većinom koriste za razminiranje i vatrogasnu zajednicu, za "zelene" radove u šumi na oko milijun hektara krša, preostaje jako malo novaca. Što reći na sve to?Idemo malo pričati o klimatskim promjenama, kisiku, ugljičnom dioksidu, eroziji, pitkoj vodi, rekreaciji i općenito zaštiti okoliša, gdje je šuma jedan od najznačajnijih i najsloženijih ekosustava, o kojoj i bez stručnog obrazovanja, nažalost svi sve znaju, jer jako vole šumu.Često spominjemo načelo potrajnosti i osiguranje višenamjenske uloge šume, što je moto poslovanja u šumarstvu, ali za to je ponajprije potrebno promijeniti mišljenje da šumu možemo samo koristiti, a ne ulagati u nju, odnosno vratiti joj dio benefita kako bi bila vječna.Uredništvo ; EDITORIALWe have written on several occasions about how we expected the present Government to bring the word forestry back into the name of the line ministry and to change its attitude towards forests and the forestry profession. Regrettably, this has not happened, with the final result of the forestry sector within the Ministry being at the level of parts of agriculture, vegetable growing for example, although forests cover almost half of the land area of the Republic of Croatia. Needless to say, the forest is the most complex ecosystem in the world, whose management requires supreme expertise. The Constitution itself states that, along with soil and water, the forest is a resource of particular interest for the Republic of Croatia. We do not insist that the sector minister should be a renowned forestry expert, but the state secretary or assistant minister in charge of forestry should definitely be one. The Minister should take every opportunity to get to know the profession which is a constituent part of his Ministry. The best way to do it is to attend at least several professional symposia in which the status and problems of the profession are discussed on a scientific-professional basis. We regret to say that the deposed department minister did not attend one single gathering, not even the one organized by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. This we regard as both the belittling of the profession and of the mentioned scientific institution. The only visible trace that he left in forestry was the establishment of "his" Forestry Administration at the expense of reducing the area of the adjacent Administrations. At present, the forestry department is headed by a wood technologist, which is illogical, but even worse, the forestry profession seems to approve of this. Who runs the forestry policy and do we have a good strategy for running it? Who is the forestry policy subjugated to? There is a general impression that the forestry policy is led by wood processors, and what is tragic, by wood processors in primary wood processing, who are guided by non-market conditions and who disregard the principles of sustainable management. At the scientific-professional gathering held to mark the Days of Croatian Forestry, Oliver Vlainić, President of the Croatian Forestry Association, mentioned current problems in forestry and attitudes of the profession. We have nothing more to add to this but to ask the readers to read the reviews of the gathering in the past double issue of the journal. Clearly, the profession repeatedly warns of the alarming conditions in forestry which the competent ministry obviously does not recognize. Considerable financial means will be required to repair the damage caused by ice and wind storms in Gorski Kotar and to remedy the situation with disastrous ash dieback and the oncoming problems with oak, the most valuable tree species in Croatia. Where to find these means if, according to the new Forest Act, the financial means from non-market forest functions fees have been significantly reduced while wood assortments continue to be sold at non-market conditions? We did not have to wait long to see how the new lady minister will treat forests and forestry by her Decision to lower the fees for forests and forest land. The value of the points was reduced by 30 to 90%, depending on the silvicultural form of the forest. To quote her words, this will accelerate investment projects, because, allegedly, many investments in which it was necessary to exclude forests or forest land from forest management plans, were called into question due to excessive fees for local or regional self-managing units. Of course, they are "not crazy" to pay to private owners, who have hundreds of thousands of hectares of abandoned and overgrown land, when the state (read: public) land is almost free of charge. For them a scrub, a thicket, maquis, and garrigue is not much of a forest anyway. The latest is the announcement of a new reduction in the non-market forest function fee by "increasing the level of total annual income from 3 000 000.00 kuna to 7 500 000.00 kuna, which was explained by a burden, both on the entrepreneurs and the administrative processing". Due to reduced means from non-market forest functions, which are currently mainly used for demining and for the fire fighter service, very little is left for "green" operations on about one million hectares of karst. What is there left to say?Let us talk a little bit about climate change, oxygen, carbon dioxide, erosion, potable water, recreation and environment protection in general, where the forest is one of the most important and most complex ecosystems, and about which everybody, although lacking professional education, knows everything because they all love forests.We often mention the principle of sustainability and the insurance of the multipurpose role of a forest, which is the motto of business-making in forestry. However, the first step is to change the general belief that the forest can be used without investing into it or without returning to it a part of the benefits. Only if we do so will forests remain an eternal asset.Editorial Board

The analysis of the consequences of the diversification of the Transport Sector energy mix is the main focus of this thesis. As a sector highly powered by fossil fuels, the promotion of alternative energy sources such as electricity and renewable fuels has to be pursued to reduce the use of oil, and consequently cut greenhouse gases emissions. However, currently, the alternative sources are faced with several challenges. To address some of these challenges, this thesis performs four analyses organized into three main parts. In the first one, the interactions between both conventional and alternative transports' energy sources, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions have been examined. Two essays have been carried out in the first part, to achieve these objectives. The recent methods of Panel-Vector Autoregressive and the Autoregressive Distributed lag models have been applied. The main findings suggest that the electricity use in the transport sector only contributes to reducing GHG emissions if this electricity is coming from renewable sources. At the same time, the alternative energy sources could compromise the economic growth highlighting that their cost-effectiveness must be enlarged. With adequate policy supporting, the penetration of the electricity in transport sector could have a great potential in, for instance, storing renewable electricity, improving renewable electricity utilisation. For that, the deployment of electricity on the road transportation is required. These evidences have definitively motivated the second and third main parts of this thesis. They are focused on the main challenges that the electric mobility on road transportation is faced: the penetration of electric vehicles in the automotive market and the impact of these vehicles on the electricity system management and renewables integration. Thus, the second part of this thesis aims to analyse the driving factors of electric vehicles adoption. This analysis goes further by distinguishing the adoption drivers of 100% electric vehicles, also known as battery electric vehicles, and plug-in electric vehicles. The factors analysed include: political, social, economic, environmental, and technical. A Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) estimator is used for European Union countries and the robustness of the results has been confirmed by employing a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) method. Actually, the main challenge for both 100% electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles adoption is the technological progress of the batteries. Furthermore, this analysis highlights that the policymaking should be focused on each type of vehicle technology instead of electric vehicles as a whole. In line with the findings of the first part of this thesis, countries with high endogenous potential should promote more 100% electric vehicles than plug-in electric vehicles to take advantage of the renewable electricity. While countries with low renewable potential should promote more plug-in electric vehicles. The policies supporting electric mobility have been effective in the 100% electric vehicles market share enlargement, but not for plug-in electric vehicles. With an appropriated policy support and technological development, the 100% electric vehicles could contribute to increasing the efficiency of the electricity system and renewables integration. These evidences constitute the main motivation for the third part of this thesis. Therefore, the main objective of the third part is to analyse the drivers of both peak electricity demand and renewables integration, providing special attention to the role played by battery electric vehicles to this equilibrium. Both Panel-Corrected Standard Errors and Driscoll-Kraay estimators have been applied for European Union countries. Different models' specifications have been used to confirm the robustness of the results found. This part highlights that the deployment of the 100% electric vehicles has led to a decrease of the peak electricity demand, which is indeed a desirable effect. Still, it should deserve further attention since the deployment of the large amounts of battery electric vehicles could modify this effect. At the same time, the 100% electric vehicles have not contributed to renewables integration. The policies focused on demand side management have been effective in integrating renewables in contrast to their lack of success in reducing peak electricity demand. The policymakers should design demand side management efficient policies to reduce the peak load demand. The promotion of Demand Response measures, such as differentiated electricity tariffs in peak periods and out-off peak periods could be an efficient way to achieve it. ; A presente tese foca-se em analisar as consequências da diversificação do mix de energia no sector dos transportes. Este sector é intensivo no consumo de combustíveis fósseis e consequentemente, é responsável por elevados níveis de emissões de gases com efeito de estufa. De forma a mitigar o seu impacto ambiental, o uso de fontes de energia alternativas, tais como eletricidade e combustíveis renováveis deve ser incentivado. Contudo, existem inúmeros desafios associados à utilização destas fontes. Com o intuito de abordar alguns dos desafios enfrentados, a presente tese realiza quatro ensaios, organizados em três partes. Na parte inicial, são estudadas as interações entre o consumo de fontes de energia convencionais e alternativas no sector dos transportes, bem como a sua relação com o crescimento económico e com as emissões de dióxido de carbono. De forma a analisar essas interações, foram realizados dois ensaios. Neles, foram aplicadas duas metodologias recentes de análise de dados em painel: Vetor Autorregressivo em Painel (Panel Vector Autoregressive - PVAR) e o Modelo Autorregressivo com Desfasamento Distribuído (Autoregressive Distributed Lag - ARDL). Os principais resultados sugerem que o consumo de eletricidade no setor dos transportes será benéfico para o ambiente, se essa eletricidade for gerada a partir de fontes de energia renováveis. Enquanto isso, as fontes alternativas poderão estar a comprometer o crescimento económico, enfatizando que o custo-benefício dessas fontes deve ser melhorado. A introdução de eletricidade no mix energético do setor dos transportes poderá ter um grande potencial em, por exemplo, possibilitar o armazenamento de eletricidade renovável aumentando assim a sua utilização. Para isso, as políticas devem promover o carregamento dos veículos quando existe excesso de geração de eletricidade renovável. Para que seja possível capturar esses benefícios, é necessária a implementação de eletricidade no transporte rodoviário. Definitivamente, estas evidências motivaram a segunda e terceira parte desta tese. As mesmas incidem nos principais desafios que a mobilidade elétrica rodoviária enfrenta: a penetração de veículos elétricos no mercado automóvel e o impacto dos veículos elétricos, quer na gestão do sistema elétrico quer na integração de energias renováveis. Assim, a segunda parte pretende analisar os fatores que suportam a adoção de veículos elétricos, abordando o seu papel individualmente tanto nos veículos 100% elétricos como nos híbridos plug-in. Fatores políticos, sociais, económicos, ambientais e técnicos foram incluídos e analisados. A Regressão Linear com Erros Padrão Corrigidos para Painel (Panel Corrected Standard Errors - PCSE) foi aplicada para analisar países da União Europeia e a robustez dos resultados foi comprovada mediante a aplicação de modelos de Regressão Aparentemente não Relacionada (Seemingly Unrelated Regression - SUR). A análise mostrou que o progresso tecnológico das baterias tem se revelado como um dos principais desafios para a implementação dos veículos 100% elétricos e dos híbridos plug-in. Além disso, este ensaio realça que as políticas devem ser focadas em cada tipo de veículo individualmente em vez de concentradas na mobilidade elétrica como um todo. Tendo em conta os resultados obtidos na primeira parte desta tese, países com elevado potencial em energias renováveis devem promover mais os veículos 100% elétricos do que os veículos híbridos plug-in, de forma a conseguir tirar maior vantagem da utilização intensiva de eletricidade renovável. Pelo contrário, países com baixo potencial em renováveis devem promover mais a utilização de híbridos plug-in. Poderão os veículos 100% elétricos contribuir para o aumento da eficiência do sistema elétrico e para a integração de renováveis? Esta curiosidade constitui-se como a essencial motivação para a terceira parte. O seu principal objetivo é analisar os impulsionadores do pico de consumo de eletricidade e de integração de renováveis, dando especial foco ao papel que os veículos 100% elétricos desempenham nesse equilíbrio. A Regressão Linear com Erros Padrão Corrigidos para Painel (Panel Corrected Standard Errors - PCSE) e a Regressão com Erros Padrão de Driscoll-Kraay (Regression with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors) foram os modelos aplicados para analisar países da União Europeia. Foram testadas diferentes especificações nos modelos, confirmando assim a robustez dos resultados. Esta parte salienta que o aumento da quota de mercado de veículos elétricos gera um decréscimo do pico de consumo de eletricidade, o que é, na verdade, um efeito desejável num sistema electroprodutor. Este efeito deve, no entanto, merecer atenção dos decisores de políticas, uma vez que, a implementação de um elevado número de veículos 100% elétricos, poderá alterar este efeito colocando picos de consumo em outros períodos. Importa salientar também que os resultados sugerem que as políticas aplicadas para a gestão ativa da procura (Demand Side Management - DSM) de eletricidade têm sido efetivas na integração de renováveis, mas não têm contribuído para reduzir o pico de consumo. Os decisores de políticas devem delinear políticas de DSM eficientes, promovendo, por exemplo, medidas de resposta da procura, tais como tarifas de eletricidade com preços diferenciados entre períodos de pico e períodos fora de pico.

The study represents a background study for the proposed Uganda Country Economic Memorandum (CEM), which seeks to address the issue of efficient use of oil resources and examine synergies between the oil industry and the rest of the economy, through growth poles or linkages. The oil industry can help Uganda to promote robust growth in the economy. However, it is important to keep in mind that it will take a number of years until oil revenues start flowing into Uganda s economy. After the Final Investment Decision (FID) is reached, it will take time to develop the oil fields and start oil production. In the meantime, there are immediate opportunities opening up for Uganda s businesses to supply the oil industry with goods and services. In most cases, Uganda s suppliers, especially micro, small and medium enterpises (MSMEs), are not expected to become first tier contractors to the International Oil Company (IOCs). The main objective of this study is to provide recommendations to the Government of Uganda (GoU) on policies and strategies of leveraging the oil discoveries for the development of the national economy in order to transform the oil resources into sustained growth. The study reviews the typology of policies for local sourcing used in the world. It includes ample examples of other countries experiences with developing their local content policies and providing support to priority sectors to boost local content which could be useful for Uganda from the standpoint of lessons learned. The study conducts a detailed analysis of the binding constraints faced by domestic oil and gas suppliers in Uganda, takes stock of existing national content support initiatives and identifies areas which are in urgent need of further support. The study examines how the oil sector can be used as a driver of agriculture and fisheries sectors in the Albertine Region and other regions of Uganda from the standpoint of food supply to the oil camps.

The main objective of the report is to analyze the current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory process in Romania, and provide recommendations for improving the system in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of inventory development in compliance with United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) and European Union (EU) requirements, including emissions forecasting provisions. This report describes the GHG inventory process and its history, analyzes the legal framework, documents and information provisions, and flows related to making the inventory together with identifying the potential adjustments for improvement, assess reporting entities and correlation mechanisms to economic dynamics, in terms of completeness, coherence, response time constant to changes in the number of companies' impact on data reporting, and provides recommendations on the possibility to improve the inventory-making process in order to meet the requirements of emission projections. The report is organized into seven sections as follows: section one provides a general introduction to GHG inventories. Section two examines the processes and procedures used in the present GHG inventory system in Romania and the alignment of this system with international frameworks including the framework for the development of environmental statistics (FDES) and the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) schematic framework. Section three elaborates the challenges with the existing greenhouse inventory process including data gaps and weaknesses in the statistical infrastructure. Section four looks at the international and national legal requirements for greenhouse gas inventories. Section five provides analysis on the flow of information and the specific verification points to ensure data consistency and coherence. Section six provides a number of recommendations and concludes in section seven with a summary of key recommendations.

This report evaluates International Development Association (IDA) support to Nepal during 2003-2008. IDA's overarching goal during this period was to support the Government's efforts to reduce poverty and improve human well-being. IDA focused on helping to foster broad-based growth, social development, social inclusion, and good governance. The evaluation highlights the need to introduce greater realism into the country assistance strategy, and to retain flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances. It also stresses the need to consult widely and continually with national stakeholders and development partners. In addition, it points to the importance of making agriculture and rural development central to the program. The evaluation also focuses on the significance of designing and implementing a mechanism to systematically track the impact of the Poverty Alleviation Fund and adjust its design to enhance benefits to the poor. Finally, supporting reforms in public finance management through policy based lending or (if the prerequisites for budget support cannot be met) a sector-wide approach is also a key.