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Republic of Ecuador Country Environmental Analysis : Environmental Quality and Natural Resource Management for Sustained Economic Growth and Poverty AlleviationEcuador is a country with exceptional natural resource and environmental advantages and challenges. It is strategically located and has considerable oil reserves in the interior and the coastal region. This document does not aim to describe the state of the environment in Ecuador. Rather, its main objective is to provide an analytical foundation to identify the country's institutional weaknesses and provide practical policy options that will enhance its capacity to establish and address environmental policy priorities linked to poverty reduction and sustained economic growth. Linking environmental considerations to sectoral projects and policies will provide important information on key synergies and tradeoffs involving the environment, economic growth, and poverty. The second objective is to guide environmental assistance and capacity building supported by the bank or other development partners through the assessment of capacity issues, especially in relation to specific environmental priorities. The main elements of the Country Environment Analysis (CEA) include analyses of: a) environment and natural- resource-related institutions, b) the environmental aspects of the oil sector, c) forestry, d) conservation, e) environmental-health, and f) climate change. The CEA also identifies policy recommendations and describes the role that the World Bank could play in helping the Government of Ecuador (GOE) strengthen its institutional capacity in order to address the country's natural resource and environmental problems in a more effective way.
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Analysis of the Process of Environmental Impact Assessment in NicaraguaGlobally, an estimated 24 percent of the disease burden (healthy life years lost) and an estimated 23 percent of all deaths (premature mortality) are attributable to environmental risks (World Health Organization, or WHO 2006). The burden of disease is unequally shared, with the children and the poor being particularly affected. Among children between the ages 0 and 14, the proportion of deaths attributable to environmental risks, such as poor water and sanitation, indoor air pollution and vector-borne diseases, is estimated to be as high as 36 percent (WHO 2006). Several key messages have emerged from the process of putting together this study: (i) environmental health risks impose a significant burden on Nicaraguas economy, amounting to 2.6 billion Nicaraguan Cordoba (NIO) or 2.4 percent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and result in premature deaths and infections, especially in children under five; (ii) cost-effective interventions to address these environmental health risks exist and should be prioritized in Nicaragua; (iii) country-specific health and environmental data are somewhat limited, especially in the case of air quality, and data collection and monitoring need to be further strengthened; and (iv) the capacity of Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) and Ministry of Health (MINSA) staff to conduct environmental health costing analysis needs to be strengthened through proper training.
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Strengthening China's
 Environmental Protection Administrative System : Analysis
 and RecommendationsThe Chinese economy has experienced an
 unprecedented 30-year period of economic growth and
 development that has delivered enormous social and economic
 benefits to the people but has had seriously adverse and
 continuing effects on the state of the environment. The
 government is well aware of the problem. Over the last five
 to ten years, environmental objectives have become
 increasingly important in priorities set under successive
 national five-year plans. To address these problems, the
 government has provided increasingly large infusions of
 capital and implemented a series of administrative reforms.
 Notwithstanding all these actions, the state of the national
 environment continues to deteriorate, and further action is
 clearly needed. This policy note focuses particularly on
 continuing issues related to the operations of the Ministry
 for Environmental Protection (MEP), including the legal
 framework under which it operates and its operational
 relationships with other agencies at the national level and
 with its counterparts at lower levels of government. This
 focus is justified given that MEP's effectiveness is
 critical to the effectiveness of the government's
 overall environmental objectives. Without an effective MEP,
 the other elements necessary for China's
 environmentally sustainable development will not be able to
 achieve these national goals.