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This paper confronts the wide political support for the 2C objective of global increase in temperature, reaffirmed in Copenhagen, with the consistent set of hypotheses on which it relies. It explains why neither an almost zero pure time preference nor concerns about catastrophic damages in case of uncontrolled global warming are prerequisites for policy decisions preserving the possibility of meeting a 2C target. It rests on an optimal stochastic control model balancing the costs and benefits of climate policies resolved sequentially in order to account for the arrival of new information (the RESPONSE model). This model describes the optimal abatement pathways for 2,304 worldviews, combining hypotheses about growth rates, baseline emissions, abatement costs, pure time preference, damages, and climate sensitivity. It shows that 26 percent of the worldviews selecting the 2C target are not characterized by one of the extreme assumptions about pure time preference or climate change damages.

Abatement cost --- Baseline emissions --- Carbon --- Carbon cycle --- Carbon emissions --- Carbon intensity --- Carbon prices --- Climate --- Climate change --- Climate Change Economics --- Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases --- Climate sensitivity --- Climate system --- Co2 --- Ecosystem --- Emissions abatement --- Emissions pathways --- Environment --- Environment and Energy Efficiency --- GHG --- Global Environment Facility --- Global warming --- IPCC --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Science and Technology Development --- Science of Climate Change --- Temperature

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Biologically diverse ecosystems in countries served by the World Bank provide an array of valuable economic services. While the benefits of conserving ecosystems frequently outweigh the costs, conversion of these ecosystems to other uses occurs anyway, because many ecosystem benefits are of a public good nature, without markets that would reflect their real value. The objective of this paper was defined at a Concept review meeting held on December 2009 and is to increase the understanding on how biodiversity is incorporated in a development agency such as the World Bank Group (WBG) and how the WBG can enhance its role in biodiversity and ecosystems protection and management as a key ingredient to reach development sustainability. In order to define a reasonable strategy to prepare this paper, two approaches were used: the first was to carry out background and analytical studies, and the second was to consult with a wide range of stakeholders including Bank staff, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and indigenous groups. Biodiversity provides many instrumental benefits, from food and fuel to recreation. But even where biodiversity is not immediately instrumental, it represents global public goods that must be protected, if only for their potential value in the future. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has been the mainstay of grants implemented by the Bank (USD 1.4 billion) for biodiversity conservation and management, but the Bank has itself committed USD 2 billion in loans and has leveraged USD 2.9 billion in co-financing.

Agricultural Productivity --- Agriculture --- Biodiversity --- Carbon Cycle --- Carbon Dioxide --- Carbon Emissions --- Carbon Sequestration --- Carbon Sinks --- Case Studies --- Cattle --- Clean Water --- Climate --- Climate Change --- Coral Reefs --- Crops --- Dams --- Data Collection --- Deforestation --- Economic Development --- Economics --- Ecosystems --- Ecosystems and Natural Habitats --- Emissions --- Environment --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Erosion --- Floods --- Food Production --- Food Security --- Forests --- Freshwater --- Grasslands --- Greenhouse Gases --- Habitat --- Indigenous Peoples --- Invasive Species --- Land Management --- Mangroves --- Marine Ecosystems --- Natural Resources --- Natural Resources Management --- Political Economy --- Pollutants --- Population Growth --- Rainfall --- Recycling --- Reservoirs --- Soil Erosion --- Water Resources --- Wetlands --- Wildlife Resources