Maximpact Blog

Global Wealth Grows, Inequality Gap Widens

“Growth will be short-term if it is based on depleting natural capital such as forests and fisheries. What our research has shown is that the value of natural capital per person tends to rise with income,” says Karin Kemper, senior director, Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice at The World Bank.

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One Planet Summit Inspires Climate Action

Two years to the day after the historic Paris Agreement on climate, more than 50 heads of state, bank and finance executives and celebrities are meeting today to drive action to finance global efforts to meet the goals of the agreement.

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Phone Route to Wealth for the Unbanked

Imagine being without a bank account, having no means of carrying out formal financial transactions, storing money, sending and receiving payments. That is the case for roughly 40 percent of the world’s working-age adults, about two billion people.

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Transforming Africa

Following a meeting with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors on Sunday in Baden Baden, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced a record US$57 billion in financing for Sub-Saharan African countries over the next three years.

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US$100 Billion to Finance Climate Triage

Finance is always a hot issue at UN climate talks, and this year’s 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will focus even more intently on financing – this time to support the first global greenhouse gas limitation pact.

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Green Bond Market Shoots Up

The green bond market reported a worldwide milestone in August when aggregate green bond issuance topped US$150 billion for the first time since the World Bank issued the inaugural green bond in 2008.

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India, World Bank Empower Sunshine Nations

A new global focus on renewable energy to avert climate change got a burst of financial power in June as the World Bank Group signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance – 121 countries led by India – to mobilize US$1 trillion in investments by 2030.

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Smallholder Diaries Open Doors to Financial Services

Smallholder households, cultivating less than five acres, have financial needs that have been ignored until now, yet without this information, it’s tough for financial service providers to supply smallholders with services, such as mobile money.

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2050 Climate Adaptation Costs: $500B a Year

By 2050, the cost of adapting to climate change in developing countries could balloon to $500 billion a year, five times greater than previous estimates, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme.

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Carbon Pricing Gathers Momentum

“There is a growing sense of inevitability about putting a price on carbon pollution,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the eve of the April 22 signing ceremony at UN Headquarters of the Paris Climate Agreement.

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Jordan’s Refugees Must Drink

Jordan, one of the world’s driest countries, is dumping much of its water into the sand – allowing 76 billion liters a year to flow from broken pipes, according to an assessment by the nonprofit aid organization Mercy Corps.

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‘Planet 50-50 by 2030’ Means Gender Equality

– “Women and girls are critical to finding sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, inequality and the recovery of the communities hardest hit by conflicts, disasters and displacements,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in her message for International Women’s Day.

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Impact Investing in the Justice Entrepreneurs

Once the only way for impact investors to support justice was indirectly, through careful ESG investment screening coupled with impact metrics to assess outcomes. Now thanks to the emergence of bold new approaches to delivering justice, impact investors have the opportunity to put capital behind businesses bringing cost-effective justice solutions to citizens and governments alike.

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