The World Bank Group consists of 3 main parts: 1.IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development): The “true World Bank”. Its main activity is lending and advice to contries with middle and low income (not the poorest). 2.IDA (International Development Association): The development/concessional part of the group. IDA lends money to the poorest countries (IDA-countries), on concessional terms. 3.IFC (International Finance Corporation): This division of the group supports private enterprise activity in middle and low-income countries.

More about the IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) One of the two Bretton Woods institustions from 1944 (the other is the IMF) Main objective: Eradication of poverty world wide (holds fo the entire group) Main business activity: Lend money on competitive terms Supports projects and programs in low/middle income countries (not OECD), after wish from countries’ governments Consulting/technical assistance to the same countries Considerable research activity, large knowledge base for poorer countries

Important lending areas for IBRD Energy (largest loan category today) Other infrastructure (transport, water/sanittion, telecommunications) Health Education Environment/climate change Public administration/governance Direct budget support (Development Policy Loans)

Important “functional networks” in World Bank, important for energy/environment/natural resources Research department (DEC): Does research, data production, consulting, “cross-support” to other Bank divisions Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM): The Bank’s “Economics department”, produces and coordinates economic analyses for and with the various departments of the Bank Sustainable Development Network (SDN): The Bank’s environment and infrastructure department.

Functional departments cooperates with regional departments: Africa (AFR) East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Latin America and Caribbean (LCR) Middle East and North Africa (MNA) South Asia (SAR)

Personnel structure in the World Bank ”Staff”: Regular or terms employees. The Bank has recently adopted a policy of employing almost all as term employees (often 2-4 years) Most staff costs are covered by Bank administrative budget (set by Board). Some limited term appointments are funded from outside as e g in my case) Mandatory retirement age for ”staff” is 62 years

Non-staff engagement possibilities Apart from as staff, outsiders can be engaged by the Bank Group in 2 ways: As Short-Term Consultant (STC) As Extended-Term Consultant (ETC), on a contract up to 2 years (like a staff-type contract but not renewable) Engasjement as STC is the norm for outside consultants. An STC can be engaged for a maximum of 150 days over one ”fiscal year”, which runs from 1. July til 30. June.

How are outside consultants engaged by the World Bank Group Happens usually via two channels: 1. Engagement via the Bank’s professional and operative divisions or departments (SDN, PREM, regional networks), with financing from internal Bank funds, or (today more common) via Trust Funds 2. Engagement through research projects, mainly through researchers (individually or groups) in the Bank’s research department (DEC )

Engagement as consultant with the World Bank Group Most consultants engaged individually (administratively simpler for the Bank than engagements through firms) Individuals from outside the U.S. do not pay income taxes on World Bank Group income. When engaged via consulting firms, income tax must usually be paid.

Trust Funds in the World Bank Large number of Trust Funds in the WBG, about 1000 (of which about 800 in IBRD) Total capital about $26 billion Disbursements about $6.7 billion (in FY08), about 25% of the WBG’s total resources

Trust fund financing (cont. ) Size of engagements of STCs can vary a lot. Some engagements can be small ($10000 – $20000) More substantial engagements, in range $ – $ Amounts are based on fixed daily rates in the Bank, established for the individual consultant, and which depend on several factors including education and years of experience

Trust Funds in the Bank (cont.) Two important funds with Norwegian financing are NTF-PSI (Norwegian Trust Fund for Private Sector and Infrastructure), and TFESSD (Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development). Both NTF-PSI and TFESSD are organization wise tied to the Bank’s ”Sustainable Development Network”

Norwegian Trust Fund for Private Sector and Infrastructure. Contact person: Heidi Stensland NTF-PSI directed toward private sector and infrastructure, with following main themes: Water, Transport, Urban development, Transport, Energy (hereunder oil and gas) and other natural resources Emphasis on service deliverty to poor groups, and local services Emphasis also on environmental issues Focus on operational issues

TFESSD (Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development). Contact person: Rasmus Heltberg Covers most of the area related to environment and natural resources Poverty directed Most emphasis on Africa Highly oriented to analytical work on the ground and capacity building

ESMAP (Energy Sector Management Assistance Program) Global program for technical assistance in the energy sector for low-income countries Important goal to spread knowledge about energy options for better economic development (from specific technologies to general policies) Emphasis on energy supply for low-income groups

ESMAP: 4 major themes: 1. Energy Security/Efficiency 2. Energy Poverty 3. Market Efficiency and Governance 4. Renewable Energy

WSP (Water and Sanitation Program): Program under SDN Main objective: Better water supply and sanitation to populations in low-income countries. Program has 14 donor countries, among them Norway (Norad).

EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) Main goal to promote better ”governance” in countries that are to a large degree based on non-renewable resources Supported by 18 donors hereunder Norway.

GEF (Global Environmental Facility) GEF is independent”financial instrument” governed by its own Board Bank is ”Implementing Agency” – proposes projects for ”incremental” GEF financing – especially climate change, also biodiversity The World Bank’s largest fund within the main theme environment and resources

My own activity Concentrated on a few areas: Energy subsidies and their phase-out (political economy, allocation aspects) Cost-benefit analyses of larger projects for environmental protection and pollution remediation Infrastructure investments and their interaction with long-run energy consumption and climate emissions

Own activity (cont.) Climate policy issues including –Analytical modeling of policy options including taxes versus cap-and-trade solutions and their effects on low-income countries –Interactions of climate policies and energy policies (especially including world oil market) –Incomplete environmental agreements and Project Based Approaches (CDM)