Guest Article #96: Green Growth is the Heart of Development [viewed]
When you fly over the beautiful island of Hispanola, you see the border on the ground below. Where there is green forest, it is the Dominican Republic. Where there is dry, brown and deforested land, it is Haiti. The environmental catastrophe of Haiti is due to the policies of irresponsible dictators. It also originates in poverty. But environmental degradation is also a cause for the continued poverty of Haiti. The Dominican Republic is six times richer when measured in per capita terms than is Haiti. In only few places on planet earth is the complete integration of environment and development visible.
31 May 2013: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) released two analytical papers on climate change-related issues, which were prepared by the Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG). The first study deals with elements needed for a robust emissions accounting framework, and the second addresses mobilized climate finance.
31 May 2013: The 48th Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) concluded with the adoption of the Bank's Ten Year Strategy 2013-2022 and 2012 Annual Report, as well as a resolution to return the Bank's headquarters to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Other key deliberations at the meeting focused on financing infrastructure, sustaining economic growth, and replenishing the African Development Fund (ADF).
30 May 2013: The fifth meeting of pilot countries participating in the Scaling up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) brought together over 50 participants from pilot countries, countries on the SREP pilot reserve list, multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Administrative Unit. 
29 May 2013: The World Bank has released a report, titled 'Mapping Carbon Pricing Initiatives: Developments and Prospects,' which provides an overview of current and prospective carbon pricing initiatives at the international, regional, national and sub-national levels. The report recommends flexibility in carbon pricing, alignment with national priorities, a staged approach for the introduction of new initiatives, and carefully timing the construction of linkages between emissions trading schemes. 
24 May 2013: At a seminar on climate adaptation, the Government of Sweden announced a donation of US$15 million to support the Adaptation Fund. The event, which was co-sponsored by the Government of Sweden and the Adaptation Fund, was hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC, US.
20 May 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) program have released a paper that explores options for national mitigation planning processes and their role in agricultural development.
23 May 2013: The 4th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was organized by the Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), reaffirmed governments' commitment to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and to reversing the trend of mounting economic losses caused by natural disasters and climate change.
