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A widely cited report from 1979 suggested that existing wood supplies in Haiti would be enough to meet increasing charcoal demand until around the year 2000, but that ongoing charcoal production could result in an environmental 'apocalypse' (Voltaire 1979, 21, 23) The prediction that wood supplies in Haiti would be exhausted by 2000 was also supported by a report on trends emerging from early remote sensing analyses of aerial photographs spanning from 1956 to 1978, for threedifferent locations in Haiti (Cohen 1984, v-iv). And yet, some 40 years later, Haitians continue to produce large quantities of charcoal despite these dire predictions to the contrary. The estimations and subsequent extrapolations presented here are conservative, using midrange estimates on a number of variables, including charcoal bag carrying capacities for different-sized vehicles in the classificatory typology, an average weight assumption for charcoal bags, and the utilization of annual extrapolation methods (for Port-au-Prince and all of Haiti) based on extending data sampled during representative low and peak periods of charcoal production to corresponding low and peak seasons across the entire year. This research provides targeted answers to a narrow set of research questions, helping to fill an important information gap in Haiti. Most notably, the total volume of charcoal moving into Port-au-Prince has implications on the total required volume of primary production of biomass for charcoal and the total value of the charcoal value chains, demonstrating the magnitude of importance of charcoal production for Haiti. These two up-to-date figures may inform policy decisions for development and government programming related to landscape management, reforestation, tree planting, agroforestry, and agricultural projects in Haiti.

Agriculture --- Charcoal Production --- Deforestation --- Energy --- Energy and Natural Resources --- Energy Demand --- Environment --- Environmental Disasters and Degradation --- Forestry Management

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The natural resources sector, particularly the mining industry, has been a significant part of Peru's economic growth over the past decade. The law mandates that the national government transfer half of the income taxes paid by mining companies to regional and local governments. This transfer of funds represents a significant opportunity to respond to the needs of local communities and lift them out of poverty. The Peruvian law of transparency and access to public information lays out mandatory compliance rules for public authorities and officials. It requires public entities at the national, regional, and municipal levels to deliver, in a timely manner, information requested by people and entities and to provide adequate infrastructure to systemize and publish public information. International Finance Corporation (IFC) identified five groups of stakeholders that were key in promoting transparency and accountability: authorities and municipal officials; local leaders; surveillance committees of the participatory budgeting process; the media; and the general population. Implementation of IFC's transparency and accountability projects in Peru generated a wealth of information, experience, recommendations, and lessons that will be useful when designing and implementing future interventions.

Accountability --- Capacity Building --- Energy --- Energy and Natural Resources --- Environment --- Natural Resources Management --- Participations and Civic Engagement --- Social Accountability --- Social Development --- Transparency

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To address woodfuel issues and develop policies that incorporate woodfuels in a modern, sustainable energy mix, policy-makers therefore need nuanced, landscape-specific assessments of the contribution of woodfuels to deforestation and forest degradation, the structure and dynamics of commercial woodfuel value chains, and a better understanding of the current and future role of woodfuels in energy supplies. This study provides an overview of the commercial woodfuels sector in Myanmar for policymakers and stakeholders to address these issues. It consists of three parts: (a) an assessment of woodfuel demand in Myanmar, estimating consumption by households, commercial catering, and industries. This was based on primary data collected through field visits and phone survey, as well as compilation and re-analysis of previous work; (b) in-depth investigation of selected woodfuel value chains representing the diversity of the sector, to assess supply-demand dynamics and identify hotspots of pressure on forest resources. This was based on field assessment of prominent value chains and computer modeling of supply and demand; and (c) drawing on these analyses, the study offers strategies and policy options to support the development of a sustainable woodfuels sector in Myanmar.

Energy --- Energy and Environment --- Energy and Natural Resources --- Energy Consumption --- Energy Demand --- Energy Efficiency --- Energy Policies and Economics --- Environment --- Environment and Energy Efficiency --- Renewable Energy

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Estimates of total factor productivity growth, a measure of increases in the efficiency of production, have traditionally been based on a two-factor model of labor and fixed capital. Because profits are measured residually in the System of National Accounts, they implicitly include rents on natural resource exploitation, with the result that the contribution of fixed capital to growth in the inputs to gross domestic product is misstated, particularly in resource dependent developing countries. This leads to incorrect measures of total factor productivity growth. Using data on natural resources from the World Bank's Wealth of Nations database and methods combining the Solow growth accounting model with recent work at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, this paper makes new estimates of total factor productivity growth for 74 developing countries over 1996-2014. In the aggregate, including natural resources as a factor of production increases estimated total factor productivity growth across all country income classes and regions of the world when compared with the traditional two-factor approach. In addition, the estimated total factor productivity growth including natural resources is less volatile over time in the great majority of countries compared with the traditional approach. The availability of World Bank data on natural resource quantities and rents for a wide range of countries suggests that natural resources should be included in total factor productivity growth estimation going forward. Further research could focus on the distinctive roles played by different natural resource endowments.

Agriculture --- Coastal and marine resources --- Economic efficiency --- Energy --- Energy and natural resources --- Food security --- Growth accounting --- Inequality --- Natural resources --- Total factor productivity --- Water resources

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This discussion paper is a product of the from disclosure to development (D2D) program, led by the sustainable infrastructure advisory team of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The program, launched in 2017, is funded by the BHP Foundation and implemented in collaboration with the World Bank. It builds on more than a decade of IFC and World Bank experience in natural resources transparency and open data. The program's goal is to enhance benefit sharing with communities from investment in natural resources through effective disclosure and data-use practices. D2D develops and tests new approaches, partnerships, and platforms aimed at improving the ways in which companies and governments disclose data, so that communities and other stakeholders can use it to inform their decisions and actions. The social license to operate (SLO) refers to the ongoing acceptance of a company or industry's standard business practices and operating procedures by stakeholders, local communities, and the general public. Transparency and community engagement can also create the foundations for developing proactive systems for companies to recognize and address community concerns and create tangible programs to improve planning with host communities, governments, and civil society. The goal is to establish social value that is measurable and verifiable and emphasizes the issues that matter to different groups of stakeholders.

Accountability --- Corporate Social Responsibility --- Energy --- Energy and Natural Resources --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Information Technology --- Natural Resources Management --- Participations and Civic Engagement --- Private Sector Development --- Science and Technology Development --- Social Development --- Technology Innovation --- Transparency