Learning from Korea’s Green Growth Experience to Tackle Environmental Health Challenges

Project Summary:

The objective of this grant is to institutionalize knowledge of green growth so that World Bank staff and client countries can develop and incorporate green growth principles into their development strategies. This KGGTF program will build on the partnership and ongoing collaboration between the World Bank Group’s Global Solutions Group on Environmental Health and Pollution Management, the Environment and Natural Resources Global Practices, and the Korean Ministry of Environment and its affiliated agencies to develop a series of multi-lingual online learning courses. The courses, created from global case studies, will strengthen capacity to design and implement green growth initiatives though activities that incorporate green growth elements. The initial online courses will be self-paced and built around environmental health and pollution management and will demonstrate how to identify new policies and investments.  Furthermore, the course will provide a toolkit for identifying, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating environmental health policies.  The courses will further present key interventions to address environmental health risks that affect vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the economically disadvantaged, along with solutions to engage multi-stakeholder groups and encourage public participation.  An accompanying manual will further provide best practices and solutions for addressing air, water and soil pollution.

The dissemination of best practices will facilitate a better understanding of how green growth can provide a flexible approach for improving environmental and urban challenges while concurrently building shared economic prosperity. An additional component of this program will help client countries identify new policies and investments to promote green growth, and further identify financing resources to support development, including other international financing institutions and co-financing opportunities along with the private sector.

List of Activities:

1. Self-paced online courses on environmental health and pollution management –

• Institutionalization of knowledge
• Dissemination of best practices 

2. Knowledge exchange with Korea

• Institutionalization of knowledge
• Facilitation of exchange of best practices

3. Analytical work

• Improved interventions to control air, water and soil contamination that mostly affect the poor, environmental governance, by providing reliable information and mechanisms for public participation in the country’s environmental management

4. Cooperation for co-financing 

• Improved interventions to control air, water and soil contamination that mostly affect the poor, Enhanced environmental governance, by providing reliable information and mechanisms for public participation in the country’s environmental management

Outcomes:

Output 1:

• Five (5) online courses in English 
• Three (3) online courses translated to other WBG official language

Output 2:

• Technical visits on: (a) hazardous waste management, site remediation, and integrated waste management (Q2/FY); (b) wastewater quality and treatment (Q3/FY); and (c) air quality management and mitigation short-lived climate pollutants (Q4/FY)

Output 3:

• Toolkit for identifying, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating environmental health policies 
• Manual with best practices for addressing air, water and soil pollution

Outcomes:

• Improved efficiency: the program will include knowledge exchange and project implementation associated with clean and resource-efficient technologies and sectoral policies. Some examples include: (a) Korea’s experience in developing cleaner power plants; (b) policies and investments to effectively reduce traffic congestion, consumption of fossil fuels and air pollution in urban areas; and (c) charges to household solid waste that can change consumption trends.
• Greater resilience:  The program will influence the efficient use of water, contributing to resilience against climate change in countries facing water scarcity. Further, the improvement of solid waste management in cities will reduce incidence of floods and landslides by preventing obstruction of drainage systems by inadequate deposition of waste. Better disposal of solid waste and the application of new technologies for its treatment will also reduce emission of Short-lived Climate Pollutants such as methane (CH4), which has greenhouse effects more than 20 times higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO2).
• Increased competitiveness: The program will develop analytical work to select and design green growth initiatives that promotes not only environmental sustainability, but also competitiveness in developing countries.

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

• The Ministry of Environment
• Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI)
• K-Eco
• Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water)
• The Ministry of Trade and Industry
• The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
• The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
• United States Environmental Protection Agency