The 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) comes at the heels of the hottest year in human history. Our newest episode of The Development Podcast delves into the impact of the climate crisis and urgent solutions to address it. This episode marks the launch of our new limited series on how to end poverty on a livable planet. Over the next 5 episodes, we’ll explore critical issues affecting planet, people and prosperity.Today, we turn our attention to the planet as we speak with three high-profile guests about climate change. We'll also hear from a climate advocate in Samoa and other youth activists on what they think is needed to end poverty on a livable planet. Join us

The 2023 World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings took place from October 9-15 in Marrakech, Morocco, and unveiled the Bank’s bold new vision: creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet. Events and discussions highlighted this new mission, highlighting an expansion in financial capacity, stronger partnerships, deeper engagement with the private sector, and finding more efficient processes. In this special edition episode of The Development Podcast, we draw on some of the highlights from that week and share more about the institution’s new mission and vision. Listen on to hear from: World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Senior World Bank Managing Dire

Multiple shocks – from COVID-19 to climate change, conflict, crop disease – are crippling food systems, leading to higher food prices and growing hunger.&nbsp; Up to 783 million people faced hunger in 2022, and projections show that in 2030, over 600 million people will still struggle to feed their families. The way we produce food is also harmful for the planet, generating unsustainable levels of pollution and waste.&nbsp;What can we do to fight the global food crisis, especially in the most vulnerable regions? What are the World Bank and its partners doing to address this issue and what solutions have worked on the ground?To answer these questions, on this episode of The Development Podcast we speak to: Gladys Wanja, a Kenyan mother and entrepreneur on the struggles she faces putting food on the table; <s

Meet the&nbsp;International Development Association (IDA),&nbsp;the arm of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries—75 to be exact. It’s the largest single source of donor funds for basic services in these countries and aims to eliminate extreme poverty. IDA’s most recent replenishment,&nbsp;IDA20, resulted in a historic $93 billion financing package for IDA countries for fiscal years 2022-2025.On this episode of&nbsp;The Development Podcast, we explore&nbsp;how IDA works across the world on a range of key development issues and priorities, with the help of some key partners. Join us as we speak with&nb

How do we address climate change, reduce poverty, and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet?&nbsp;Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, and no country is immune.On this episode of&nbsp;The Development Podcast, we hone in on voices across Africa about the experience of climate change and how it intersects with poverty, and we hear from Richard Damania, World Bank’s Chief Economist for Sustainable Development in Washington, DC. Tune in as we speak with Cathy Kamamu, a farmer from Kenya, Professor Denis Aheto, Director of the Centre for Coastal Management in the Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience,&nbsp;Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, Director of Climate Change for the Ghana Forestry Commission, and Richard Damania, Chief Economist for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.&nbsp;<strong

Migration is a development challenge. About 184 million people—2.3 percent of the world’s population—live outside of their country of nationality, and almost half of them are in low- and middle-income countries.&nbsp;In this episode of The Development Podcast, we explore the conversation around migration, from global economic imbalances, demographic changes, and conflict, to the opportunities it can bring to people and host communities.To unpack this and more, we speak to Xavier Devictor, the World Bank’s co-Director for this year’s World Development Report and four individuals, including two migrants in Colombia and the Philippines, who share their stories of success and survival outsid

The 2023 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings took place from April 10-16, amidst a backdrop of challenges: from stress in the banking sector, persistent inflation, rising debt, climate change and of course Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Addressing this instability, and looking to a future free from poverty, was at the heart of the discussions which involved dozens of contributors from across the globe.In this latest episode of The Development Podcast, we draw on some of the highlights from that week, hearing from various speakers who attended our events and how they look to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Listen on to hear from:&nbsp; World Bank Group President David Malpass, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Senior World Bank Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, Senegal's Minister of Economy, Planning and Coo

What impact does unpaid care work have on women's economic prospects and growth? How can we support these everyday superheroes? In this episode of The Development Podcast, we explore the economics around this issue, whether women are tending to children or the elderly. What goes into this often invisible workload, and how do the burdens these women carry affect their every day lives?&nbsp;&nbsp;We draw from recent findings of this year’s 2023 Women, Business, and the Law report and also speak with three guests: Laura Rawlings, Lead Economist for the World Bank’s Gender Group, Nguyen Thi Kieu Trang&nbsp;(KT), Marketing and Communications Manager with CARE International in Vietnam, and Jyoti Macwan, Gener

In this episode of The Development Podcast, we mark one year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and explore the depth and breadth of fragility, conflict and violence (FCV) around the world. What are the spillover effects of war as we see increased displacement of populations, high energy and food prices, shocks to natural disasters and more? And what is the World Bank Group’s position and long-term strategy on FCV, and how can we begin to tackle some of these challenges we face head on?&nbsp;Axel Van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations, the Honorable John Dabi, Deputy Commissioner of South Sudan Commission for Refugees Affairs, Fidel Saad, Save the Children Lebanon’s Food Security, Livelihoods and Social Protection Technical Advisor, and Lara, a Ukra

The recently released January edition of this year’s&nbsp;Global Economic Prospects&nbsp;report warns that the global economy is dangerously close to a recession, with worldwide economic output projected to be just 1.7% in 2023. While the outlook for all economies is quite grim, the edition takes a special focus on&nbsp;the plight of 37 small states—countries with a population of 1.5 million or less—that are already vulnerable to shocks&nbsp;stemming from the pandemic, climate change, disruptions to tourism and more.In this episode of&nbsp;The Development Podcast, we speak with three guests:&nbsp;Dana Vorisek, senior ec

The past twelve months have been turbulent for the global economy. Conflict, inflation, food supply crises and the long tail of the Covid-19 pandemic have caused shockwaves across the world. In this episode of The Development Podcast we speak to World Bank Group chief economist Indermit Gill, and take stock of the last twelve months, while looking ahead to 2023. Indermit explains why forecasts at the start of the year were wrong, and why he remains optimistic for the coming year. We also reflect on one of the biggest stories of 2022, food prices. We

COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and other crises have dealt the biggest setback to global poverty reduction in decades. 2020 alone saw the largest one-year increase in extreme poverty since global monitoring began. In this episode of The Development Podcast, we comb through the recent Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report (PSPR) to understand what’s happening, where and why.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ruth Hill, a lead economist at the World Bank discusses the actions governments can take to help correct course. We also get a snapshot of just how hard the last few years have been for many people, such as Sonia Cifuentes in Bogota, Colombia, an

This year’s World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings took place against the backdrop of a series of overlapping crises threatening catastrophic consequences for the poor. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and conflict were the focus for delegates who gathered at the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington DC. In this special edition of The Development Podcast we’ll bring you some of the key moments from this year’s sessions. Leaders, experts, and activists discussed how best to respond to the multiple overlapping crises facing developing countries and how to work together to build a resilient future. Listen now! Tell us what you think of our podcast&nbsp;<a href="https://wbgwebvisitor.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eeZ5Z

Our warming world needs to wean itself away from fossil fuels, but closing coal mines can impact jobs and communities. How can we ensure people and communities are at the center of the transition away from coal?&nbsp;In this episode of The Development Podcast, we hear about the challenges and opportunities involved in this important transition.We get the view from some Indian women benefiting from new green jobs, hear from new solar panel owners, and from Reema Nanavaty, director of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).We also hear from World Bank experts Elizabeth Ruppert Bulmer, Lead Economist with the Socia

The world is grappling with&nbsp;a sharp deceleration in growth, coupled with rising inflation. Are we experiencing so-called stagflation, what does that mean for people, and what can we learn from comparable situations in the past?In this episode of&nbsp;The Development Podcast, World Bank forecasting expert&nbsp;Franziska Ohnsorge, Manager of the Prospects Group, one of the lead authors of the Global Economics prospect Report; and debt expert&nbsp;Marcello Estevão&nbsp;Global Director of the World Bank Group's Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment global practice give the big picture on stagflatio

The world is facing&nbsp;rising food prices that are hitting poor and developing countries hardest. Even before COVID-19 reduced incomes and disrupted supply chains, chronic and acute hunger were on the rise due to factors, including conflict, socio-economic conditions, natural hazards, climate change and pests.&nbsp;The disruption caused by the war in Ukraine has added to price pressures, with costs likely to remain high for the foreseeable future and expected to push millions of additional people into acute food insecurity.In this episode of&nbsp;The Development Podcast, World Bank Food and Agriculture Global Practice Manager&nbsp;<a href

Putting people first through investing in human capital – the knowledge, skills, and health that people need to achieve their potential – is critical for sustainable, inclusive growth and poverty reduction. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic threaten to leave generations behind and exacerbate inequalities. Health impacts, setbacks to nutrition, the early years and learning, job losses and expanding gender gaps must be addressed with urgency. Countries have stepped up in innovative ways to put people first through building, protecting, and utilizing human capital – with support from the World Bank and partners. However – ambition, innovation, and sustained support are needed to recover human capital losses and strengthen recovery. Investing in people consistently and providing opportunities for all to achieve their potential can yield economic dividends – and help bring greater stability in a challenging global context.During the <a href="https://live.w

Trade can be an effective catalyst for growth and development. However, the growing use of market-distorting subsidies undermines the multi-lateral, rules-based trading system that has promoted trade liberalization and global growth in the past. At a time when the global economy is coping with multiple shocks, including the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply chain disruptions to food and other goods, governments are increasingly turning to subsidies for relief. But the costs can be very high, in terms of public spending and distorted incentives for investment and consumption. How can international cooperation help create a fairer trading system for countries at all income levels?During the 2022 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, the heads of the four key global economic policy institutions—the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IM

By 2030, up to two-thirds of the world's extreme poor could live in fragility, conflict, and violence settings, so without addressing the challenges in these economies, we will not succeed in our mission to eradicate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. The disturbing trend of rising and compounding crises points to an urgent need for the international community to come together and develop new and innovative approaches to support countries facing conflict and fragility. During the 2022 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, we discussed how to stay engaged during times of crisis and meet the challenges in new and innovative ways, along with our partners. World leaders came together to discuss how to best build resilience &amp; manage uncertainty. Listen to the Spring Meetings highlights in a special series of <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en

The connection between development and climate change is increasingly clear: delivering on these together will require large-scale low-carbon and resilient investments. It will also require approaches that tackle the political economy of the low-carbon transition and help communities build long-lasting resilience to climate change. What are the investments needed to achieve a green, resilient and sustainable future? How can we unlock private finance for climate action? How are countries stepping up to the challenge? During the 2022 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, we explored the actions that are needed to create enabling environments, leverage different pools of capital at the right time, for specific needs, while involving communities and bringing them along in the global low-carbon, resilient transition. World leaders came together to discuss how to best bu