Category Archives: Resource Based Economy

The world of work is changing constantly, profoundly, and faster. This is clear from the outsourcing of work, waves of technological advances, increasing automation in business, and big data analysis driving the growth of industries.

The needs of industry are shifting constantly and the education system should be responding to provide needs-based support.

Education theorists, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have to remember that the occupational situation differs from country to country. They also need to remember that changing work contexts are influencing employees and job-seekers in distinct ways. Work is becoming increasingly more complex. This means that theres a growing need for lifelong learning, teamwork, and networking as well as an increased emphasis on digital skills to promote career adaptability and employability.

They also have to bear in mind that the industrial sector is shrinking. Accordingly, work-seekers in the Global South have been turning to the service sector as well as to the informal economy with a fair amount of success. This trend is likely to continue.

The issue is whether education systems are keeping pace with the changes.

To understand whether young South Africans have the skills required by the current world of work after 12 years in school I use the lens of the so-called gateway subjects. These are maths and physical sciences and, to an extent, accounting. These form the foundation for scientific, economic, and industrial development and research.

Multiple educationists and researchers have contended that learners whove passed maths and physical sciences and have acquired the basic aspects of information communication skills and robotics have a competitive advantage in the occupational world over those that have not. South Africa simply cannot afford the unacceptably low percentage of school learners who pass Grade 12 with mathematics and physical sciences.

Read more: Why South Africa's declining maths performance is a worry

Why the emphasis on maths and physical sciences?

Having passed Grade 12 with maths and physical sciences helps because these subjects contribute at least 22% to the economy. Likewise, having passed either information communication technology or even computer-assisted technology helps to advance the economy by reducing production costs, boosting the growth of new businesses, and improving communication.

It also helps to acquire soft skills such as career adaptability, emotional-social intelligence, career resilience, creativity, innovation, and the ability to collaborate and to network, among other things. These skills are increasingly being seen as hard skills in the 21st century workplace because theyre strongly aligned with market needs.

Unfortunately, they arent being taught and learned adequately at school.

A number of problems afflict South Africas education system.

Black learners continue to feel the effects of apartheids education system which spent more on education for white learners. This means that the vast majority of black learners in the neediest environments get inadequate teaching and learning.

Unless the disparity between rich children and poor children is addressed, the gap between the achievements of learners in well-resourced schools and disadvantaged learners in resource-scarce schools will persist.

The effects of this disparity are felt for the rest of the pupils lives. One consequence is that they they struggle to succeed in university studies.

An added difficulty is that the countrys overly academic school system sends the message to learners and their parents that learners should strive to study at a university and that it is better to study at a university than, for instance, at a TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) College.

Im in favour of introducing a system that facilitates differentiated training from an early stage.

At the end of grade nine at about 15 years old most learners are already able decide whether they want to pursue academic or more vocational studies. This is the point where the system should start channelling them in career-related directions that will give them their best chance of eventually pursuing careers that fit their personalities including their interests and aptitudes and enable them to enact their central life themes.

Another key factor that needs to be addressed is the matter of inadequate career counselling for pupils black learners especially. During apartheid, the disadvantaged black majority of students were denied access to career counselling in schools. Even today, the vast majority of black learners still receive little career counselling at school and cannot afford to pay a career counsellor.

Funding should be made available by the government and employers to enable learners to consult career counsellors. Group-based career counselling is a viable solution to the challenge of providing career counselling in schools with large numbers of pupils.

I maintain that there are solutions for these challenges. Whats needed is the will to use resources that are available and to move forward expeditiously.

To help narrow the disparity gap Ive argued in favour of making it compulsory for graduating teachers and educational psychologists to do community service in rural areas and townships. These professionals must be given incentives, their safety must be ensured, and they must be paid a decent salary.

Another step that could be taken is to rehire the many teachers who have been retrenched or who have taken severance package deals.

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How to fix the gap between school and work in South Africa - The Conversation Africa

Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon, where its extensive security apparatus, political organization, and social services network fostered its reputation as a state within a state. Founded in the chaos of the fifteen-year Lebanese Civil War, the Iran-backed group is driven by its opposition to Israel and its resistance to Western influence in the Middle East.

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With its history of carrying out global terrorist attacks, parts of Hezbollahand in some cases the entire organizationhave been designated as a terrorist group by the United States and many other countries. In recent years, long-standing alliances with Iran and Syria have embroiled the group in the civil war in Syria, where its support for Bashar al-Assads regime has transformed Hezbollah into an increasingly effective military force. But with Lebanese politics in upheaval over mass discontent with the ruling class, and with U.S.-Iran tensions rising, Hezbollahs role in Lebanese society may change.

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Hezbollah emerged during Lebanons fifteen-year civil war, which broke out in 1975 when long-simmering discontent over the large, armed Palestinian presence in the country reached a boiling point. Various Lebanese sectarian communities held different positions on the nature of the Palestinian challenge.

Under a 1943 political agreement, political power is divided among Lebanons predominant religious groupsa Sunni Muslim serves as prime minister, a Maronite Christian as president, and a Shiite Muslim as the speaker of parliament. Tensions between these groups evolved into civil war as several factors upset the delicate balance. The Sunni Muslim population had grown with the arrival of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, while Shiite Muslims felt increasingly marginalized by the ruling Christian minority. Amid the infighting, Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982 to expel Palestinian guerrilla fighters that had been using the region as their base to attack Israel.

A group of Shiites influenced by the theocratic government in Iranthe regions major Shiite government, which came to power in 1979took up arms against the Israeli occupation. Seeing an opportunity to expand its influence in Arab states, Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) provided funds and training to the budding militia, which adopted the name Hezbollah, meaning The Party of God. It earned a reputation for extremist militancy due to its frequent clashes with rival Shiite militias, such as the Amal Movement, and attacks on foreign targets, including the 1983 suicide bombing of barracks housing U.S. and French troops in Beirut, in which more than three hundred people died. Hezbollah became a vital asset to Iran, bridging Shiite Arab-Persian divides as Tehran established proxies throughout the Middle East.

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Hezbollah bills itself as a Shiite resistance movement, and it enshrined its ideology in a 1985 manifesto that vowed to expel Western powers from Lebanon, called for the destruction of the Israeli state, and pledged allegiance to Irans supreme leader. It also advocated an Iran-inspired Islamist regime, but emphasized that the Lebanese people must have the freedom of self-determination.

Hezbollah is led by Hassan Nasrallah, who took over as secretary-general in 1992 after Israel assassinated the groups cofounder and previous leader, Abbas Al-Musawi. Nasrallah oversees the seven-member Shura Council and its five subcouncils: the political assembly, the jihad assembly, the parliamentary assembly, the executive assembly, and the judicial assembly. The U.S. State Department estimates that Hezbollah has tens of thousands of members and other supporters worldwide.

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Lebanon

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Hezbollah controls much of Lebanons Shiite-majority areas, including parts of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley region. Although Hezbollah is based in Lebanon, its manifesto clarifies that its operations, especially those targeting the United States, are not confined by domestic borders: The American threat is not local or restricted to a particular region, and as such, confrontation of such a threat must be international as well. The group has been accused of planning and perpetrating acts of terrorism against Israeli and Jewish targets abroad, and there is evidence of Hezbollah operations in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

Iran continues to support Hezbollah with weaponry and more than $700 million per year, according to 2018 State Department estimates. Hezbollah also receives hundreds of millions of dollars [PDF] from legal businesses, international criminal enterprises, and the Lebanese diaspora.

Hezbollah has developed strong political and social arms in addition to its military operations. It has been a fixture of the Lebanese government since 1992, when eight of its members were elected to Parliament, and the party has held cabinet positions since 2005. The most recent national elections, in 2018, granted Hezbollah thirteen seats in Lebanons 128-member Parliament, three more than the Amal Movement, once its rival but now a coalition partner. The party marked its integration into mainstream politics in 2009 with an updated manifesto that was less Islamist than its predecessor and called for true democracy.

Additionally, Hezbollah manages a vast network of social services that includes infrastructure, health-care facilities, schools, and youth programs, all of which have been instrumental in garnering support for Hezbollah from Shiite and non-Shiite Lebanese alike. A 2014 report from the Pew Research Center found that 31 percent of Christians and 9 percent of Sunni Muslims held positive views of the group.

At the same time, Hezbollah maintains its military arm. Under the 1989 Taif Agreement, which was brokered by Saudi Arabia and Syria and ended Lebanons civil war, Hezbollah was the only militia allowed to keep its arms. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated in 2017 that the militia had up to ten thousand active fighters and some twenty thousand reserves, with an arsenal of small arms, tanks, drones, and various long-range rockets. Analyst and Brigadier General (Ret.) Assaf Orion, of Israels Institute for National Security Studies, says Hezbollah possesses a larger arsenal of artillery than most nations enjoy.

Critics say Hezbollahs existence violates UN Security Council Resolution 1559adopted in 2004which called for all Lebanese militias to disband and disarm. The United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNFIL), first deployed in 1978 to restore the central governments authority, remains in the country and part of its mandate is to encourage Hezbollah to disarm. The United Nations has implicated Hezbollah members in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Hezbollah blames Israel for the attack.

In October 2019, Hezbollah saw itself become a target of mass protests. Government mismanagement and years of slow growth have saddled Lebanon with one of the worlds highest public debt burdens, at 150 percent of its gross domestic product, and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens disillusioned by the economic slump demanded the removal of what they see as a corrupt ruling elite. Demonstrators called for the government, including Hezbollah, to cede power to a new, technocratic leadership. The monthslong protest movement has spanned religious backgrounds, and even Lebanese Shiites have openly criticized Hezbollah.

Israel is Hezbollahs main enemy, dating back to Israels occupation of southern Lebanon in 1978. Hezbollah has been blamed for attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets abroad, including the 1994 car bombings of a Jewish community center in Argentina, which killed eighty-five people, and the bombings of the Israeli Embassy in London. Even after Israel officially withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, it continued to clash with Hezbollah, especially in the disputed Shebaa Farms border zone. Periodic conflict between Hezbollah and Israeli forces escalated into a monthlong war in 2006, during which Hezbollah launched thousands of rockets into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah and Israel have yet to relapse into full-blown war, but the group reiterated its commitment to the destruction of the Israeli state in its 2009 manifesto. In December 2018, Israel announced the discovery of miles of tunnels running from Lebanon into northern Israel that that I claims were created by Hezbollah. Hezbollah has attacked Israel with sophisticated anti-ship and anti-armor weapons, which Western officials suspect are supplied by Iran. Orion told CFR that the more precise weaponry being provided by Iran ensures that Hezbollah will become an increasingly dangerous threat to Israel.

Hezbollah finds a loyal ally in Syria, whose army occupied most of Lebanon during Lebanons civil war. The Syrian government remained as a peacekeeping force in Lebanon until it was driven out in the 2005 Cedar Revolution, a popular protest movement against the foreign occupation. Hezbollah had unsuccessfully pushed for Syrian forces to remain in Lebanon, and has since remained a stalwart ally of the Assad regime. In return for Tehrans and Hezbollahs support, experts say, the Syrian government facilitates the transfer of weapons from Iran to the militia.

Hezbollah publicly confirmed its involvement in the Syrian Civil War in 2013, joining Iran and Russia in supporting the Syrian government against largely Sunni rebel groups. Prior to 2013, the group had sent a small number of trainers to advise the regime. More than seven thousand Hezbollah militants are estimated to have fought in the pro-Assad alliance, which has been instrumental in the survival of the Assad regime, including by winning the 2013 Battle of al-Qusayr, which secured a route for regime forces between the major cities of Damascus and Homs.

Analysts say that Hezbollahs experience fighting in Syria has helped it become a stronger military force, but that it faces a growing sentiment in Lebanon that focusing on the war led the group to neglect its domestic interests. Additionally, Hezbollahs support from Sunni Muslims in Lebanon has waned over the groups backing of the Assad regime, which particularly threatens Sunni Muslims. In recent years, Sunni extremists have committed terrorist attacks in Lebanon, including 2015 suicide bombings in Beirut claimed by the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Hezbollahs involvement in the war has also provoked Israel, which has struck targets in Syria thought to be supplying Hezbollah with weapons.

U.S. policymakers see Hezbollah as a global terrorist threat. The United States designated Hezbollah a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, and several individual Hezbollah members, including Nasrallah, are considered specially designated global terrorists, which subjects them to U.S. sanctions. The Barack Obama administration provided aid to Lebanons military with the hope of diminishing Hezbollahs credibility as the countrys most capable military force. However, Hezbollahs and the Lebanese militarys parallel efforts to defend the Syrian border from the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-affiliated militants have made Congress hesitant to send further aid, for fear that Hezbollah could acquire it.

In 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act, which sanctions foreign institutions that use U.S. bank accounts to finance Hezbollah. Lawmakers amended it in 2018 to include additional types of activities. Additionally, the Donald J. Trump administration has sanctioned some of Hezbollahs members in Parliament, as part of its maximum pressure campaign against Iran. While Trumps approach has disrupted Irans economy, analysts say the countrys increasingly self-sufficient proxies are weathering the worst of the sanctions.

The European Union has taken a less aggressive approach to Hezbollah. The bloc designated its military arm a terrorist group in 2013, over its involvement in a bombing in Bulgaria and its backing of the Assad regime, though some EU states feared the move would bruise relations with Lebanon and hurt stability in the region. In 2014, the EUs police agency, Europol, and the United States created a joint group to counter Hezbollahs terrorist activities in Europe.

Hezbollah has scorned the largely Sunni Gulf Arab countries over their alliances with the United States and European powers. The Gulf Cooperation Councilcomprising the seven Arab states of the Persian Gulf, with the exception of Iraqconsiders Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Additionally, Saudi Arabia and the United States co-lead the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center, created in 2017 to disrupt resource flows to Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah.

Experts say that Hezbollahs international network is expanding, but that the group isnt eager for outright war with Israel or the United States, pointing to its muted response to an Israeli drone strike in Beirut in August 2019. Instead, some analysts say, Hezbollah would rather rely on covert operations and terrorist activities, especially if Israel or the United States was to declare war with Iran.

U.S.-Iran relations worsened further after a January 2020 U.S. air strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the IRGCs elite Quds Force, which is responsible for the corps external operations. In response, Nasrallah promised that Hezbollah would attack U.S. forces but not target American civilians.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah could see a more pressing threat in its own backyard. The January 2020 formation of a Hezbollah-backed government failed to appease antiestablishment protesters, who sawit as a win for the countrys entrenched elites. Demonstrations have continued, but experts suspect that Hezbollah will not bend to protesters demands for fear that a new, politically independent government would weaken the groups power and force it to disarm. Some argue that the protest movement could undermine Hezbollahs influence more effectively than any U.S. policy ever has, by opening the floodgates of criticism of the group and potentially reinventing the system of government it has become expert in exploiting.

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What Is Hezbollah? - Council on Foreign Relations

Albertans are used to being singled out by the Trudeau government as a target to destroy our resource-based economy. But we are not alone, in a mandate letter to the new federal Fisheries Minister he commanded the Minister to work with BC and Indigenous communities to create a responsible plan to transition from open-net salmon farming in coastal BC waters by 2025. That would be the same transition word Liberals use about phasing out the oilsands. That mandate caused an immediate uproar in the BC fish farming industry including First Nations involved in that business who see the termination of their industry. The delusion promoted by anti-open net salmon farming activists and political parties is that the entire industry can just be moved onto land-based containment rearing systems. Like with the delusion of creating hundreds of thousands of green jobs in Alberta to replace our energy industry that level of wilful ignorance is truly astounding. The BC salmon farming industry involves 7,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in annual business mainly based in remote locations on Vancouver Island. There is only one reason why the industry is based there because open-net farms require sheltered sea water locations for low-cost salmon production. If they are no longer allowed to operate in that way, commercial fish farming companies will just close down and move or expand their salmon operations in other parts of the world. As to land-based total containment fish farming operations, there is no economic rationale in building such expensive facilities on Vancouver Island. Trucking fish food a thousand miles to a remote island land operation just to truck out harvested salmon thousands of miles to markets is a sure-fire recipe for bankruptcy the ferries alone would be a massive burden in costs and time lost. A modest prototype total land-based operation on Vancouver Island has consistently lost money despite receiving $10 million in government grants. The reality is without low-cost open net fish farming the industry is not viable anywhere on the BC coast. The BC government probably understands that eliminating open-net fish farming will be the demise of industry and the loss of jobs in remote coastal areas. They probably also understand that if land-based salmon farming operations are to be successful they will need vast economies of scale, be close to a large source of fish food, and be within reasonable trucking distance to major north American markets. I would suggest that any commercial entity contemplating a vast land-based operation would quickly realize that faraway coastal BC would be the last location on their list. Interestingly, southern Alberta would rank high on the list for a major world-class land-based containment salmon-farming operation. Heres why fish food is a major production cost and due to their carnivorous nature, salmon require some fish oil and fish meal in their fattening diet. Those ingredients were usually available in coastal fishing areas. But Cargill, an animal feed processing company, has developed a strain of Canola that supplies the exact omega oil and meal nutrient requirements as original rendered fish products. That variety of fish food Canola is being grown for Cargill right next door in Montana. No need to haul that feed a thousand miles and ferry rides to remote BC coastal sites if commercial fish farming operations were in southern Alberta. Transportation logistics are also well-developed in southern Alberta thousands of trucks and railcars already transport millions of tons of beef, pork and other food products from Alberta to every part of north America. But there is more.Can you imagine the regulatory and environmental protocol nightmare the BC government and its green group allies would inflict on any commercial sized land-based containment operation proposal. Its not the same, but Alberta already has long experience with commercial intensive meat production with cattle feedlot production and beef processing. Those regulatory, environmental and management processes are a precedent for industrialized fish (feedlot-type) farming. We also have the land, water and low-cost utilities. Heck with all the solar and wind power, Alberta could produce the most sustainable salmon in the world. I would suggest if they are already not doing so the Alberta government in its diversification goals might want to seriously study the potential of salmon feedlot-type farming in Alberta. Providing the right type of incentives might allow Alberta to steal-away a billion-dollar industry from those self-righteous folks in BC. How satisfying that would be. More devious Federal fish policy next time. Will Verboven is an ag opinion writer and ag policy consultant.

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Trudeau to destroy another resource industry in the west but to the chagrin of the Feds Alberta could benefit - Brooks Bulletin

The surest sign that environmental protection has moved into the political mainstream around here is Andrew Cuomos now constant articulation of environmental initiatives in New York State. New Yorks Governor has been a politico since he was a teenager working in his fathers political campaigns. Political calculation is hardwired into his approach to governance. In his recent State of the State Address, he announced a $3 billion-dollar environmental bond act that is designed in large measure to help New York adapt to climate change. In addition, Cuomo is investing substantial state resources in a multi-decade effort to modernize and decarbonize the states energy system.

Meanwhile, in our nations capital, our amateur politician President Donald Trump is continuing to claim that human-induced climate change is a hoax and is busy reducing the rigor of any environmental regulation that lobbyists can put in front of him. His goal is to promote the use of fossil fuels. He attacks wind energy, energy conservation and water conservation policy while promoting pipelines, coal mines and the fossil fuels he sees as central to a muscular American economy. He is convinced that environmental regulation prevents businesses from creating jobs. His view of this is stuck in a time warp dating to about 1980 that does not recognize the vigor and market strength of the growing green economy. He also seems willing to ignore the broad American consensus supporting environmental sustainability.

The politics that underlie all of this are obvious. As always, Trumps main political concern is his base. According to a March 2019 Gallup poll, six in ten Americans want to see America reduce its use of fossil fuels, but 58% of all Republicans oppose reductions in fossil fuel use. Significantly, there is an American consensus behind developing renewable energy: 80% of the country favors more development of solar energy and 70% would like to see more wind energy. The presidents recent rant against windmills might reduce support for wind energy by his hard-core supporters, but the country as a whole supports renewable energy.

One target of the Trump Administrations attack on environmental regulation has been the time and cost of analyzing and mitigating the environmental impact of products and projects. The attack on the amount of time major projects are delayed by environmental impact analyses has some basis in reality, although data indicates that most major infrastructure projects are delayed by inadequate financing rather than regulatory roadblocks. If the money is in place to build something it tends to get built. The exception is projects like pipelines that take on symbolic meaning and are opposed for their overall impact on environmental quality. Anti-development efforts are often based on Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) issues raised by those in or near the path of development. These are sometimes based on environmental issues but are just as often based on a conservative impulse to protect what we have and leave things unchanged.

What is missing from all of this is an understanding of the long-term impact of an environmentally damaging product or project and the long-term cost of addressing those impacts. All the poisons we have released into the environment must eventually be contained or cleaned up, and those that we miss often result in health care costs from cancers and diseases caused by toxic substances. The U.S. has spent close to a trillion dollars on toxic waste clean-up since we enacted Superfund in 1980. The military spent hundreds of billions of dollars cleaning up their mess, and the private sector has spent a small fortune making sure that the worst mistakes of toxic mismanagement were remedied. We learned that burying toxic chemicals underground in metal containers didnt work because of a simple phenomenon called rust. And once these chemicals leach into the soil, they eventually reach aquifers and can poison our water and food supply.

Some projects that are delayed or stopped due to anti-development or pro-environment impulses cause short-term pain but long-term gain. A wonderful example was the effort to replace the West Side Highway in New York City with an interstate highway. Had that happened there never would have been a Hudson River Park and the Highline and development of the far west side of Manhattan would have never taken place. Visual and recreational access to the river turned out to produce more economic growth than another superhighway would have generated.

Environmental politics has slipped into the polarized symbolism we see in most of Americas national politics. However, since environmental pollution is directly experienced in our communities, the most important political discussions and decisions tend to take place at the local level. It is easier to build consensus when we are focusing on real impacts rather than symbols. It is also easier to resist the paid lobbyists who make their living off of polarized division since in most cases our local concerns arent important enough to attract their attention. No one wants their children to breathe polluted air, drink water with lead in it, or play in chemically contaminated playgrounds. No one.

The effort to delegitimize science may make it hard for the public to understand the potential impact of particular projects or products. Propaganda messages sometimes dominate the communication of scientific facts. I am afraid we are in for a difficult period where the impacts will only be believed once they arrive. We are now seeing that with climate change. The need to adapt to new conditions is apparent and widely supported. The effort to mitigate climate change is more controversial but gaining support as the impacts become more obvious.

That is the fundamental feature of environmental politics. The battles in Washington may sometimes be over symbols, but conditions on the ground, in our communities are real. The waters are rising, the lead pipes in need of replacement, the air is orange. There is an objective reality that is only denied by the delusional. If we lose the ability to define, describe and communicate that reality we will not be able to manage the new technologies human brainpower can and will invent.

There are honest disagreements over what causes damage and what doesnt. The chemicals and technology of food production are poorly understood, and the food industry has done its best to avoid the kind of transparency and information exchange that would facilitate effective and efficient regulation. Businesses are terrified of engaging in an honest conversation about the costs and benefits of their production processes out of a reasonable fear that such conversations are not possible in todays polarized political culture.

But if we are to move toward an environmentally sustainable economy, we need to be able to discuss the impacts of human activity on the planet with calm, realism and humility. Everything humans do creates an impact and our goal cannot be to eliminate impacts but reduce them. It is in our interest as a species to permit economic development so that all humans can benefit from the wonders and bounty of the modern world. My view is that political stability and public safety requires continued economic development. But it is also important that the high throughput economy many of us benefit from moves toward becoming a circular and renewable resource-based economy. To do this we need to study, understand and measure our environmental impacts. We then need to discuss them and reduce negative impacts through rules and better management.

Environmental protection must move out of the arena of symbolic politics. Our national politics is completely focused on symbols, manipulation of image, defining reality and achieving power. But we are living, organic creatures. Our health is an objective reality and while symbols impact our mind and indirectly our body, one cant wish illness away. Just as in health care, we can and will disagree about the methods used to protect our planet or our body. But the need for such protection is beyond dispute.

In the blue-red political world weve created we need to remember the values we share and our interdependency. As individuals and families, we can do a great deal to create the world we want to make for ourselves. But we also require the collective resources that can only be achieved by a community. We depend on each other for clean air, clean water, healthy food and protection from floods and fire. Governor Andrew Cuomos $3 billion-dollar bond proposal will provide some of the resources New Yorks governments need to build resilient communities. Perhaps some day soon our national government will do the same.

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Bringing Consensus Politics Back to Environmental Issues - State of the Planet

A rebound in the mining and resource industries helped drive stronger economic growth in Papua New Guinea in 2019, a year which saw Peter ONeills eight-year tenure as prime minister end.

Mr ONeill resigned in late May following a series of policy disputes and defections within the government.

He was replaced on May 30 by James Marape, the former minister of finance.

In a break with his predecessor, Mr Marape has struck a somewhat nationalistic tone since taking office, setting out an agenda to find a more even balance between the interests of investors and Papua New Guineans amid a perception that the country has not adequately benefitted from foreign-funded, resource-based projects in the past.

Elsewhere, the new administration has sought to diversify the economy by prioritising growth in non-resource sectors, small and medium-sized businesses, and the informal economy.

A key pillar of this strategy involves agriculture, with Mr Marape telling OBG in a recent interview that he aims to turn the country into the food bowl for Asia by expanding production and export capabilities.

To this end, the government announced it would invest K200 million ($58.7m) annually in the sector through to 2030, while in late August the EU inaugurated a K340 million ($99.8m) pilot program designed to benefit smallholder farms in East Sepik Province.

Another sign of the new economic approach was revealed in late November with the release of the 2020 budget, the countrys largest ever.

The budget outlined expenditure of K18.7 billion ($5.5bn), 13.3 per cent more than in the 2019 supplementary budget.

Much of the spending will be directed towards capital investment, with a particular focus on electricity, internet and road infrastructure improvements seen as key to unlocking non-resource growth.

While revenue is also expected to reach record levels, the budget foresees a deficit of K4.6 billion ($1.4bn) in 2020, or roughly 5 per cent of GDP.

Resources drive return to growthWhile the economy struggled in 2018, it is projected to grow by 5 per cent in 2019, according to both Treasury estimates and the IMF, the highest rate since 2015.

The sharp increase comes on the back of a 1.1 per cent contraction in GDP in 2018, with expansion heavily affected by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake that hit the country on February 26 of that year.

In addition to leading to the death of more than 200 people, the earthquake destroyed much of PNGs industrial infrastructure, subsequently halting production of some of the countrys major resource-based projects.

Growth in 2019 was largely driven by a recovery in mining and oil and gas operations as damaged infrastructure was repaired and production at major projects resumed.

Non-resource industries have also recorded improvements.

Non-mining growth is projected to increase by 2.9 per cent over the course of the year, according to Treasury figures, driven by 2.5 per cent growth in agriculture and fisheries.

Project uncertaintyDespite efforts to diversify the economy, much of the countrys longer-term prosperity is still tied to resources.

While these sectors recovered in 2019, they have also been subject to uncertainty.

In a development that is expected to double PNGs liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports by 2024, the government signed an agreement with Total, ExxonMobil and Australian Securities Exchange-listed Oil Search relating to the development of the $13 billion Papua LNG project in April.

However, shortly after taking power, Mr Marape called for a review of the terms of the deal.

Despite announcing in September that it would honour the agreement, the governments approach has led to some concern within the industry.

The Marape administration has also been locked in negotiations with ExxonMobil over the Pnyang gas project.

With the government seeking more favourable terms than previous resources deals, there are fears that a stalemate over Pnyang could delay overall resource development in the country.

Elsewhere, the government has moved to revise the 1992 Mining Act.

Officials are expected to introduce the bill to Parliament in early 2020; anticipated proposals include reforms of the maximum term of mining leases, renewal periods for licences and labour laws.

Bougainville votes for independenceAnother significant political event for 2019 occurred in December, when the people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, a collection of islands in the Solomon Sea, voted overwhelmingly to break away from PNG in an independence referendum.

Almost 98 per cent of the 180,000-strong voting population voted in favour of independence, rejecting proposals of greater autonomy to remain part of PNG.

Although a blow to PNG, the decision is non-binding, with the final decision to be ratified by Parliament.

A series of lengthy negotiations are expected to determine the terms of the regions departure from PNG, with some analysts predicting that independence may not be realised for a decade.

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PNGs economy rebounds in 2019, a year in review - POST-COURIER

Winters in Hanover are a breeze.That was my first impression about this area, when my fiance and I moved here for work-related reasons, a little over a year ago.Sure, the snow is still wet and chilly here, the cool air still forces one to bundle up in extra clothing and warmth, but a winter here is not a Sudbury winter. Thats an entirely different and frosty animal. Northern cold.Theres only two seasons in Sudbury winter and construction season. Thats a common joke made around the city, anyway. However, itd be more accurate to say there are about eight months of winter and four months of construction, after the citys roads get wrecked by the long winter season.See, Sudbury, or Nickel City, or the Bury, as many locals refer to it as, is a northern city known for its rich history in mining, however, the city has expanded from its resource-based economy, and has emerged as a major retail, economic, health and educational centre for Northeastern Ontario.Sudbury is also home to one of Canadas best-known landmarks the Big Nickel, its numerous lakes (theres more than 60), Science North, its re-greening project and its city-wide adoration for the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League, just to name a few. Oh, and its also my hometown.After roughly 10 years of writing as a freelance journalist for the Sudbury Star newspaper, and with a public relations and journalism degree from Cambrian College tucked into my back pocket, Im here, in Hanover, as a full-time multimedia journalist for The Post.Back in Sudbury, I covered everything from sports, to hard-hitting news, like politics, court, city council, etc. Thatll be the same here.Covering sports is what initially interested me in a career in journalism, as I was raised in a sports-oriented family. Both of my brothers played hockey growing up, and I was no different. Heck, even my father coached hockey for a bit, too. Every Saturday, like many Canadians, mom, dad and the three boys were glued to the television for Hockey Night in Canada.Hockey, though, was always more of a pastime for us, and as weve aged, weve all branched out into different careers. One brother is a chef in our nations capital, while the other is a mechanic in Sudbury.At 18 years old, I became the sports editor for the Cambrian Shield, a now defunct and student-ran online-only newspaper for Cambrian College. During the two-year span of journalism school is when I began freelancing for the Sudbury Star, after the then sports editor, Bruce Heidman, convinced me to start writing for the local paper.Fast-forward all those years later to now and, well, here I am a more well-rounded journalist, with some additional experience in this field to my name, to go along with a laid-back, free-spirit personality.Since our arrival in Hanover, Ive come to appreciate the close-knit, family-feel of a small town and the trust among neighbours.It helps, too, selfishly-speaking, that weve added to our small family since our arrival, with the addition of two kittens, and that can only be regarded as a positive.This opportunity as a full-fledged journalist is many years in the making, and I couldnt be more excited to get started.Journalism isnt about me. Its about you and the community. So, to that, I say, lets get started and share your stories together.Hello, Hanover.kdempse@postmedia.comTwitter: @keith_dempsey

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Hello, Hanover - The Post - Ontario

KENORA Kenora federal MP Eric Melillo sent a letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau, inviting him to visit the Kenora riding as part of the 2020 pre-budget consultations.

In the letter, MP Melillo briefed Minister Morneau on the opportunities and challenges facing Kenoras natural resource industries, adding that leveraging the potential of the Ring of Fire and developing an action plan for the forestry sector should be prioritized in the 2020 budget.

He also invited the Minister to meet with local entrepreneurs and First Nations leaders to hear firsthand about the issues facing them.

I believe Minister Morneau would benefit from the opportunity to speak directly to workers, job creators, and community leaders in the Kenora riding, Melillo stated.

The Kenora riding has a diverse resource-based economy that includes mining and forestry, as well as tourism. Residents and business owners in the riding face unique challenges related to infrastructure, internet access, and availability of services.

I have heard from many constituents across my riding that they have felt forgotten by this government, Melillo concluded in his letter. I hope you will take this opportunity to hear what they have to say.

Eric Melillo 2020 Pre-budget Consultations Invitation to Minister Morneau by james1572 on Scribd

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Minister of Finance Invited to Kenora for 2020 Pre-Budget Consulations - Net Newsledger

The commitment to the high-tech initiative is in the mandate letter given to Bruce Ralston, seen here in Legislature on Feb. 19, 2013, when he was named minister of jobs, trade and technology in 2017.

CHAD HIPOLITO/The Globe and Mail

For more than a century, the community of Trail in B.C.s Kootenays has been a mining town. More recently, it has landed the MIDAS Fab Lab, a business incubator for startup companies that is helping diversify the regions economy through research and development of digital fabrication industries.

Since opening a little more than three years ago, the lab has provided skills training for more than 100 workers, supported the development of more than 90 prototypes, created or expanded a dozen businesses and helped generate $3-million in sales.

Its precisely the kind of high-tech initiative the B.C. government says the province needs.

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The commitment is in the mandate letter given to Bruce Ralston when he was named minister of jobs, trade and technology in 2017: Establish B.C. as a preferred location for new and emerging technologies by supporting venture capital investment in B.C. startups ... [and] ensure that the benefits of technology and innovation are felt around the province.

But, ahead of the Feb. 18 provincial budget that Finance Minister Carole James is determined to balance, government has been trimming its contributions to help expand the tech industry especially in rural communities. Funding for Innovate BC is drying up, while the Rural Dividend Fund has been suspended.

In the Kootenays, those dollars helped develop the MIDAS lab and the soon-to-open Nelson Innovation Centre. Those are just some of the tech projects designed to help B.C.'s rural communities typically built on boom-and-bust natural-resource industries become more economically resilient.

The high-tech industry in the Kootenays is generating half a billion dollars a year in economic activity, said Cam Whitehead, executive director of the Kootenay Association for Science & Technology. These are higher paying jobs, and theyre driving wealth to smaller communities."

But the barriers to success are higher than in urban areas.

These are small businesses in rural communities, he said in an interview. They dont have the opportunity to connect with all of the resources, which are centred in the Lower Mainland and larger urban centres. This is a huge opportunity to drive a transition from the traditional natural resource-based economy to one which is fully in line with transitioning to a clean economy in the digital age.

The B.C. Rural Dividend program was established under the former Liberal government to help small communities strengthen and diversify their local economies. The NDP government suspended it, describing it as a slush fund.

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Mr. Whitehead doesnt care what the program is called, he is just hoping the province will find some funding to help carry on with the good work it was producing.

It wasnt perfect, but its delivered so much, to so many. The eligibility was broad and that was great. It was flexible for technology and innovation projects in our area.

Mr. Ralston was not available for comment, but a spokesman for the ministry said the money has been rerouted to helping forestry communities that are facing a dramatic downsizing.

With regard to the Rural Dividend Fund, Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development staff have retained those applications and are assisting in redirecting them to other sources wherever possible," Lori Cascaden said in a statement.

Jill Tipping, president and CEO of the BC Tech Association, raised the alarm about B.C.'s low investments in high tech last year, which threatened to force a Vancouver-based business incubator to close its doors. After The Globe and Mail reported on the potential loss, the federal government stepped in with crucial dollars to avert the closure.

She said the province has since offered encouragement, but little in the way of financial support.

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The tech sector is thriving, but could be doing even better both in urban settings and in rural settings," she said in an interview.

While B.C. is pinching pennies in high-tech support, Alberta and Ontario are spending far more to attract tech growth. Ms. Tipping said it should not be difficult sell: For every dollar invested in B.C. technology industries, governments collect more than $10 in tax revenue.

Government has a role to promote growth and stability and to provide the necessary infrastructure. And so, when people say to me, We cant afford it, my response is, you cant afford not to, she said. Yes, we need balanced budgets and we need to manage spending, but we also need to be preparing for the future.

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B.C. cheers high tech in its rural communities - but financial support is missing - The Globe and Mail

In the lead-up to the 2020 elections, theJournalists Resource team is combing through the Democratic presidential candidates platforms and reporting what the research says about their policy proposals. We want to encourage deep coverage of these proposals and do our part to help deterhorse race journalism, which research suggests can lead to inaccurate reporting and an uninformed electorate. Were focusing on proposals that have a reasonable chance of becoming policy. For us, that means at least 3 of the 5 top-polling candidates say they intend to tackle the issue. Heres what the research says about carbon pricing.

Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang

Carbon pricing schemes put a financial price on carbon emission. They are widely portrayed in the economic literature as an effective way to reduce carbon emissions from high-carbon emitting industries, such as certain types of energy production. Academics and politicians often frame carbon pricing not as a cure-all, but rather as one part of a broader strategy to slow or reverse rising global temperatures.

Rising temperatures caused by climate change could cost the U.S. economy many billions of dollars. A 2017 paper in Science projects that for every 1.8 degree Fahrenheit average temperature increase in the U.S., gross domestic product will fall by 1.2% yearly equal to roughly $233 billion at todays GDP.

Poorer areas of the country could be hit hardest, according to the paper. By the end of this century, under business-as-usual emissions, the poorest third of U.S. counties are likely to lose between 2% and 20% of current income that residents earn, the authors write. The richest third of counties could lose up to 6.8% of income, according to the authors estimates or gain 1.2%.

The Science paper offers one estimate of the effect of climate change on U.S. economic output, or productivity, as measured by GDP. Another paper by two Environmental Protection Agency staffers, published April 2019 in Nature Climate Change, looks at costs related to infrastructure, health, agriculture and other sectors across two scenarios.

The first scenario where the average global temperature is trending toward 5 degrees Fahrenheit higher in 2100 compared with pre-Industrial Revolution levels would come with about $170 billion in annual costs by 2050 across the 22 sectors the authors analyzed.

The second scenario heading toward an average global temperature in 2100 thats 8 degrees Fahrenheit higher than pre-industrial levels would come with about $206 billion in annual costs across those sectors by 2050. The estimates dont include potential cost savings from adaptation measures, such as creating dunes to protect beaches or building levees to divert floodwater, which can reduce infrastructure damages.

Aside from estimating the costs of rising global temperatures, economists have also come up with two big market-based ideas to address climate change and put a price on carbon emissions: Carbon taxes and cap-and-trade.

Carbon taxes put an initial financial burden on entities that emit carbon as part of their regular business. Think a coal-fired electricity plant. Under carbon tax schemes, governments set the price of pollution while markets determine the amount of pollution companies can pollute and pay the tax or reduce emissions to avoid it.

There are carbon taxes in other countries but not in the U.S. Some academics have argued that there is already a kind of carbon tax borne by people, not companies in the sense that some parts of the U.S. experience substantial economic losses from climate change, like from more severe storms that cause billions of dollars in property damage.

In practice, businesses could pass along the cost of a carbon tax to consumers. If a refinery that produces heating oil pays a tax for emitting carbon, customers might end up paying higher prices for home heating oil.

To some economists, this is not a bug but a feature: higher prices would lower demand for carbon-intensive fuels. In some countries, revenues from carbon pricing programs are disbursed to households to help pay higher fuel prices, according to an October 2019 paper in Climate Change and Renewable Energy.

Cap-and-trade puts a cap on overall carbon emissions levels. Unlike carbon taxes, where governments set the price and markets determine the amount of pollution, under cap-and-trade governments set an amount of allowable pollution while markets set the price.

The emissions cap is divided into credits and governments then sell those credits to companies that pollute. Companies that pollute under the cap can sell their credits to entities that pollute more. Part of the appeal is that as the cap lowers over time, so does the number of credits, incentivizing companies to pollute less.

A national carbon tax is a popular idea among some economists and policymakers in the U.S. More than 3,500 economists from across the political spectrum, including 27 Nobel laureates, support a carbon tax plan that would give dividends directly to Americans. But so far, jurisdictions in the U.S. have gone with cap-and-trade strategies over carbon taxes.

Michael Bennet, Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren have indicated to The Washington Post they might pursue carbon pricing as president, but none have released firm policy statements in support of carbon pricing schemes. Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard would not pursue carbon pricing as president, according to the Post.

In June 1990, Colorado State University economist Jo Burges Barbier wrote in a paper in Energy Policy that further policy instruments and considerations beyond carbon pricing alone were needed to curtail carbon emissions from the energy sector.

The EPAs Acid Rain Program in 1995 became the first national cap-and-trade effort. It seeks to reduce airborne sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides coming from power plants.

Acid rain happens when those pollutants get into the atmosphere, then fall to the ground through precipitation like rain or snow, contaminating waterways and crops. Since the programs introduction, acid deposits have decreased 30% across the Midwest and Northeast and the program prevents an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 premature deaths each year, according to the EPA.

Another national cap-and-trade program was the NOx Budget Trading Program, which operated during the 2000s and sought to reduce nitrogen oxides from power plants during the summer.

But a national cap-and-trade program failed in 2010, in part because opponents rebranded it cap-and-tax, making the idea politically unpalatable. No national cap-and-trade program has come close to passing Congress since.

Though now defunct, the NOx Budget Trading Program prevented nearly 2,000 summertime deaths each year in participating states, most of them along the east coast, according to a 2017 analysis in the American Economic Review.

Harvard University economist Robert Stavins assesses the state of carbon pricing in a May 2019 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. He writes that economists have reached consensus that pricing systems such as carbon taxes and cap-and-trade will be key to reducing carbon dioxide emissions:

There is widespread agreement among economists and a diverse set of other policy analysts that at least in the long run, an economy-wide carbon pricing system will be an essential element of any national policy that can achieve meaningful reductions of [carbon dioxide] emissions cost-effectively in the United States.

States have taken up the cap-and-trade baton in the last decade or so. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative covers nine New England and Mid-Atlantic states and set its first carbon cap for the power sector in 2009. Since then, greenhouse gases have fallen 40% in those states, and theyre aiming for another 30% reduction by 2030. The initiative has raised $2.7 billion, which has been invested into wind and solar power generation, and to help low-income people pay their energy bills.

Power plants across those nine states generate about 112,000 megawatts less each month than plants in other states, and they emit 286 fewer tons of sulfur dioxide and 131 fewer tons of nitrogen oxides per month, according to a May 2019 paper in Energy Economics. However, that analysis finds the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative had a causal effect only on reductions of sulfur dioxide emissions, not nitrogen oxides.

Californias cap-and-trade program began in 2006 and the legislature extended it in 2017. It has an emissions cap affecting 80% of greenhouse gases coming from about 450 of the states biggest polluters.

That program has demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of an economy-wide approach, compared with sectoral systems, write economists Richard Schmalensee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stavins of Harvard in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy.

California reports it is on track to beat its initial target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and is aiming for emissions levels 40% under 1990 levels by 2030.

But the California cap-and-trade program may be distributing benefits, like cleaner air, unequally. Companies that emit greenhouse gases there tend to be located in areas where more people live in poverty, but the program hasnt led to environmental benefits in those neighborhoods, according to a July 2018 analysis in PLOS Medicine.

In fact, greenhouse gas emissions in neighborhoods near polluters actually increased from 2013 to 2015, compared with 2011 to 2012, the authors find. They peg overall greenhouse gas reductions to the state importing less electricity from coal-fired plants.

Emissions reductions also vary widely by industry, the authors find. Seventy percent of certain power plants reduced emissions over the period studied, while 75% of cement plants increased emissions. A glut of credits on the market may keep lower-income California communities from enjoying the environmental benefits of cap-and-trade.

Some experts also caution that California is markedly dissimilar from most states. California has a strong, mostly popular, single-party majority in its legislature, so its an easier lift politically to experiment with market-based emissions reduction strategies.

Utilities in the state are also largely on board with addressing climate change, even through regulation. The state doesnt rely much on coal to produce energy, while many other states do.

Because California is a unique case in several respects, it is unlikely that other states in the U.S. will be able to adopt similar systems, Guri Bang, research director at the Center for International Climate Research in Oslo, and her co-authors write in a 2017 article in Global Environmental Politics.

Finally, on the global scale, there is the free-rider problem.

Right now theres no prospect of an enforceable, international cap-and-trade system that could put a meaningful dent in global carbon emissions. There are too many hurdles to mention, but one of them is that countries would probably want higher emissions ceilings for themselves, but lower emissions ceilings for the rest of the world, as the late Harvard economist Martin Weitzman explained in a June 2019 article in Environmental and Resource Economics.

In other words, countries want to reap the environmental benefits of carbon reduction without paying the price they want a free ride.

Still, people in countries with carbon pricing programs can reap monetary benefits.

A 2016 paper in Energy Policy analyzed real-world carbon tax and cap-and-trade programs and found that policymakers earmark 70% of revenues from cap-and-trade to climate-friendly efforts, while 72% of revenues from carbon tax systems there are several in Europe are refunded to people or put into government general funds.

Policy perspective: Building political support for carbon pricing Lessons from cap-and-trade policies

Leigh Raymond. Energy Policy, November 2019.

The gist: This review of long running cap-and-trade programs suggests that a new idea in carbon pricing the idea of a carbon dividend in the form of an equal per capita payment to all citizens is consistent with the successful public benefits strategy discussed here.

Perceived fairness and public acceptability of carbon pricing: A review of the literature

Sara Maestre-Andrs, Stefan Drews, Jeroen van den Bergh. Climate Policy, July 2019.

The gist: Somewhat surprisingly, most studies do not indicate clear public preferences for using revenues to ensure fairer policy outcomes, notably by reducing its regressive effects. Instead, many people prefer using revenues for environmental projects of various kinds.

Carbon pricing and energy efficiency: Pathways to deep decarbonization of the US electric sector

Marilyn A. Brown, Yufei Li. Energy Efficiency, February 2019

The gist: Our modeling results suggest that carbon taxes coupled with strong energy-efficiency policies would produce synergistic effects that could meet deep decarbonization goals.

Marilyn Brown, professor of sustainable systems, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Jo Burgess Barbier, assistant professor of economics, Colorado State University.

Noah Kaufman, research scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

Gilbert Metcalf, professor of economics, Tufts University.

Leigh S. Raymond, professor of political science, Purdue University.

Robert Stavins, professor of energy and economic development, Harvard University.

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Carbon pricing: Research on carbon taxes and cap-and-trade - Journalist's Resource

Ghana and the World Bank on Friday signed four agreements, totalling nearly $570 million aimed to transform the economy, boost education, improve sanitation and fight flooding in Accra as well as reduce forest losses.

Out of the total commitment for the four projects, $557 million is in loans and just over $12 million in grants.

The Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development project is a $200 million, multi-sector and transformative urban project which aims to support Greater Accra to become a cleaner, safer and more resilient city.

It focuses on reducing flood risk along the Odaw urban river basin and three selected low-income communities: Nima, Alogboshie and Akweteman.

Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project is $150 million for 6 years, which has the development objective to improve the quality of education in low performing basic education schools and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana.

The objective of the $200m Ghana Economic Transformation Project is to promote private investments and firm growth in non-resource-based sectors of the Ghanaian economy. The project will work towards improving the business environment to facilitate firm growth and investments.

The final project is the Additional Financing for the Ghana Forest Investment Programme, which is a $12.4 million grant and $7 million loan project. It seeks to reduce forest loss and degradation in selected landscapes in Ghanas High Forest Zone, where deforestation is at the highest.

Finance Minister Mr Ken Ofori-Atta and Mr Pierre Laporte, the World Bank Country signed the deal on behalf of Ghana and the World Bank respectively.

In his address Mr Ofori-Atta commended the World Bank for its support, saying the projects would help to advance governments quest for inclusiveness and transformation.

He said since the government came into office some three years ago, the goal has been to accelerate the pace of development and ensuring that no one was left behind.

However, this could not be done without focus on wealth creation, which is key to ensuring sustainability.

He said government has proven to Ghanaians its desire of inclusiveness through flagship programmes such as the one district one factory and the free SHS programme.

Mr Ofori-Atta urged development partners not to slow down the process because of an election year because the government was desirous to move forward development.

On his part, Mr Laporte said the event affirmed the banks commitment to the government and Ghanaians through the signing of the legal Agreements of the four important and potentially transformative projects.

We have a longstanding and strong partnership with the Government and the people of Ghana. The World Bank is committed to strengthening our partnership even further going forward, he said.

We will work with you hand in hand to ensure that these projects, as well as others already ongoing, are implemented timely and effectively. This will, in turn, result in efficient use of resources, achieve the projects objectives, and most importantly positively impact the lives of the people, communities and institutions, he added.

He said project delays were costly, and encouraged the teams to identify implementation challenges and work collaboratively with other government organizations as well as with the Bank teams to resolve them.

One important aspect of the implementation process is feedback from beneficiaries. Implementing entities thus need to ensure there are functional grievance redress mechanisms and strong citizens engagement for all projects as they contribute to effective, efficient and sustainable delivery and outcomes, Mr Laporte.

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Ghana And World Bank Sign $570 Million Agreement | Banking/Finance - Peace FM Online