Climate change is one of the biggest long-term risks to global development. This makes choices and investment made in climate change mitigation and adaption vital for ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth.  In recent years, IEG has undertaken a series of evaluations of World Bank Group's support to climate change and related issues such as water, natural disasters, and environmental sustainability. These evaluations aim to provide an opportunity for the institution to learn from the past experiences and to inform emerging strategies and programs.  

Four Myths about Climate Change Myth No 1: Energy efficiency can't meet energy needsEnergy efficiency doesn't get enough respect. "You can't grow with energy efficiency," say fans of flashy new power plants, "and you can't provide energy access to the poor."

Scientists have spent decades figuring out what is causing global warming. They've looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence climate. But the amount and pattern of warming that's been measured can't be explained by these factors alone.

Global Warming The current cycle of global warming is changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely upon. What will we do to slow this warming? How will we cope with the changes we've already set into motion?

The "greenhouse effect" is the warming that happens when certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat. These gases let in light but keep heat from escaping, like the glass walls of a greenhouse. First, sunlight shines onto the Earth's surface, where it is absorbed and then radiates back into the atmosphere as heat. In the atmosphere, "greenhouse" gases trap some of this heat, and the rest escapes into space. The more greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped. Scientists have known about the greenhouse effect since 1824, when Joseph Fourier calculated that the Earth would be much colder if it had no atmosphere. This greenhouse effect is what keeps the Earth's climate livable. Without it, the Earth's surface would be an average of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. In 1895, the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius discovered that humans could enhance the greenhouse effect by making carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. He kicked off 100 years of climate research that has given us a sophisticated understanding of global warming.