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This guidance note provides review and recommendations for how the protective services of mangroves and coral reefs can be measured and valued in a manner consistent with national economic accounts and included in other decision-making processes to support planning for development, disaster risk, and coastal zone management. It synthesizes evidence of the role mangroves (Chapter 2) and coral reefs (Chapter 3) play in coastal protection and risk reduction. It also reviews the tools and approaches commonly used by ecologists, economists and engineers for estimating the coastal protection services of coastal habitats (Chapter 4). Moreover, it examines how the valuations of these coastal protection services can be considered in the System of Environmental Economic Accounts (SEEA), the satellite accounts to the System of National Accounts (SNA) (Chapter 5). In addition, the note examines where the coastal protection role of reefs and mangroves has been used in management decisions from local to national scales (Chapter 6). Finally, it provides recommendations for advancing the assessment and the use of coastal protection values from coral reefs and mangroves in national and regional decisions (Chapter 7).

The report covers the carbon funds, facilities, and financial products managed by the World Bank Group between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.

The Climate Change and Development Series was created in 2015 to showcase economic and scientific research that explores the interactions between climate change, climate policies, and development. The series aims to promote debate and broaden under-standing of current and emerging questions about the climate-development nexus through evidence-based analysis.

And advance brief from the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2015 report, to be released late 2015

This report follows the evolution of carbon pricing around the world. Last year's report mapped the main carbon pricing initiatives. This year, the report presents the status of each of these developing initiatives and explores the emerging trends of carbon pricing. The focus is on the recent highlights from around the world, and on key lessons that can be drawn from the growing experience.

The Cook Islands comprises 15 islands with a total land area of 237 sq km and a maximum height above sea-level of 652 m. The islands are scattered over an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1.8 million sq km; one of the largest EEZ’s in the South Pacific.

This proposal has been prepared by the Ocean and Islands Programme (OIP) within the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) in collaboration with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). It has been prepared in response to an invitation1 from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to assist the Cook Islands in deriving coastal related information to underpin and inform climate change adaptation decisions for coastal areas of Mangaia Island.

This memo introduces a report that you may find useful and interesting. Focusing on preventing death and destruction from “natural” disasters, it concludes that governments can appreciably increase prevention. The good news is that prevention is often cost-effective. It requires many actions, and some important ones are under government control. But they are not always obvious. Improving the public delivery of some services, like reliable public transport, allows people to move from unsafe areas close to work to safer locations. Reducing deforestation prevents heavy rains from washing mud, rock, and debris into populated areas. This report suggests how such measures and related spending could be identifi ed and made effective.

The World Bank's mission is to alleviate poverty and support sustainable development. Climate change is a serious environmental challenge that could undermine these goals. Since the Industrial Revolution, the mean surface temperature of Earth has increased an average 2 degrees celsius due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.