From transport to health, food to construction and textiles, plastics are among the most abundant materials in our economy. Globally, the plastic industry is valued at USD 600 billion and provides employment to millions of people worldwide. But plastic pollution has become a crisis of monumental proportions, with 8 million tons ending up in oceans annually. Around the world, different regions face unique challenges ranging from community awareness to waste and recycling capacity, to weak stakeholder engagement.

There are serious constraints to guaranteeing adequate housing in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. The housing shortage problem is a result of (i) historically insufficient stock of available houses for the population - i.e. quantitative housing deficit; (ii) new demand (e.g. household formation); and (iii) inadequate condition of existing units, in terms of space, construction materials and access to public services – i.e. qualitative housing deficit.

The knowledge exchange supported under the South-South Facility, was undertaken between Bangladesh:  Social Development Foundation, the implementing agency of the World Bank Nuton Jibon Livelihood Project (NJLP) and India:  Kerala State’s National Rural Livelihood Mission (Kudumbashree).

The objective of the knowledge exchange was for the Indian delegation from Jharkhand to learn how the productive alliances approach in Brazil is improving linkages between small holders and private sector. The Indian delegation comprised of technical experts and administration wing of rural development department which is implementing a similar project in Jharkhand state in India under the name Jharkhand Opportunities in Harnessing Rural Growth Project – JOHAR.

Over 80% of worldwide new coal-fired power plants due to begin operating between now and 2020 will be in middle-income countries in Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Pakistan. Together with the existing plants in operation in these countries, this will lock-in 260 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions over their remaining lifetimes, which would exceed the carbon budget available to the power sector to be consistent with limiting global warming within 2 degrees.

The Government of Argentina (GOA) launched in 2016 the first nation-wide demand-side housing supply program for first-home buyers (the Linea Solucion Casa Propia Program, SCP). The World Bank, as part of the Integrated Habitat and Housing Project (P159929), is supporting the SCP. The SCP provides a lump-sum subsidy to eligible households, which, together with a saving amount and a mortgage loan provided by the open market, is used for the acquisition of a housing unit.

In 1995, with technical assistance from the World Bank, Indonesia introduced its Program for Pollution Control Evaluation and Rating (PROPER), the first such environmental rating and disclosure (ERD) initiative in the developing world. With experience from Indonesia, the World Bank helped introduce the concept to other countries, including Ghana, and eventually to the Indian State of Odisha. This made Odisha the first state to begin ranking pollution intensive industries.

The Ghanaian PagSung Shea Butter and Shea Nut Pickers Association wanted to increase their production, processing, and export of shea nuts. The Self Employed Women’s Association in India had a model program that organizes women workers to obtain work security, income security, food security, and social security. An exchange between the two organizations introduced new marketing and strategic plans for Ghanaian women’s group.

The dismantling of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to the near collapse of the Armenian diamond cutting industry, which after a brief period of growth in the early 2000s has again declined. To rebuild the industry using global best practices and to increase access to raw diamonds, the Armenian government contacted the World Bank. Meanwhile, Lesotho had identified the diamond industry as a potential source for growth and had commissioned three diamond mines. The government also wanted to attract foreign direct investments and train high-skilled local labor to add value downstream.