{"query_echo":{"q":"","filters":{"analysis_type":["practitioner interviews"]},"warnings":[{"code":"facet_value_not_in_vocabulary","message":"Value 'practitioner interviews' for facet 'analysis_type' is not in the controlled vocabulary."}]},"total":{"value":4,"relation":"eq"},"page":1,"page_size":20,"self":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/api/v1/search?analysis_type=practitioner+interviews","stability":"beta","ai_marking":{"digital_source_type":{"uri":"http://cv.iptc.org/newscodes/digitalsourcetype/trainedAlgorithmicMedia","name":"Created using Generative AI"},"notice":"Summary and key insights are generated using artificial intelligence."},"results":[{"id":"sei-002448","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/sei-002448","title":"Examining the role of risk mitigation and transfer for renewable energy investments: case studies in East Africa","publisher":{"name":"Stockholm Environment Institute","organization":"stockholm-environment-institute"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2025-12","source_url":"https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/risk-mitigation-transfer-renewable-energy-investments-east-africa-sei2025-061.pdf","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The report examines the role of risk mitigation and transfer (RMT) instruments in supporting utility-scale wind and solar projects in East Africa. Through six case studies, it finds that while RMT tools—such as political risk insurance, guarantees, and blended finance—are essential for reaching financial close, risks remain high due to macroeconomic instability, currency volatility, and utility financial strain. The analysis highlights a 'start-stop cycle' in countries like Kenya, where rapid deployment led to overcapacity and subsequent government moratoriums on new contracts. Conversely, the GET FiT program in Uganda is presented as a successful model of systematic de-risking through transparent procurement and institutional support.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Risk mitigation and transfer (RMT) instruments are essential for moving utility-scale renewable energy projects from development to financial close in East Africa, particularly where national utilities face financial strain and projects encounter political uncertainty or grid constraints.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Kenya has experienced a 'start-stop cycle' where a rapid increase in capacity, driven by a generous Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme, eventually exceeded consumption growth. This led the government to impose a moratorium on new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and forcefully renegotiate existing 'take-or-pay' clauses to 'take-and-pay' terms, which increased risk perception and stalled investments.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The GET FiT Uganda program demonstrates that a systematic approach to risk mitigation—combining competitive procurement, transparent tendering, and institutional support—can successfully attract international developers and lenders.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Currency risk remains one of the most difficult challenges in East Africa because projects are typically financed in hard currency while revenues are generated in local currency, often leading to higher costs for utilities when local currencies depreciate.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"In countries with limited experience in renewable energy, such as Burundi and Djibouti, projects require a higher intensity of RMT instruments and DFI involvement to be viable. For example, Djibouti's Red Sea Power project used an 'all-equity construction bridge' model backed by MIGA political risk insurance.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Despite growing regional experience, investment risks remain high. Many projects experience significant payment delays because utilities struggle to source foreign currency, though these issues are often managed 'softly' to avoid officially triggering insurance or guarantee products and damaging relationships.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The involvement of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) provides a 'halo effect' or 'umbrella of deterrence' that makes private investors more comfortable entering new markets, even without specific RMT instruments being triggered.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-002448#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["renewable energy","photovoltaics","climate finance","Blended Finance","power purchase agreement","feed-in tariff"],"geography_discussed":["Burundi","Djibouti","Uganda","Ethiopia","Mauritius","Rwanda","Seychelles","Somalia","South Sudan","Sudan","Tanzania"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["case study","policy analysis","practitioner interviews"]},{"id":"sei-001514","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/sei-001514","title":"A pilot study on systems thinking in asset management","publisher":{"name":"Stockholm Environment Institute","organization":"stockholm-environment-institute"},"document_type":"research paper","language":"en","date_published":"2023-04","source_url":"https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/pilot-systems-asset-management-sei2023.027.pdf","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The report explores the integration of systems thinking into asset management to better assess sustainability impacts. It identifies six key dimensions of systems thinking—considering multiple sustainability dimensions, both positive and negative impacts, indirect effects, co-benefits and trade-offs, long-term perspectives, and the scale of impacts. The study finds that while there is interest among 'front runner' practitioners, the finance sector's reliance on quantitative, aggregated data and short-term horizons creates a significant barrier to operationalizing a systems approach. The authors argue that improved, standardized, and audited company reporting, particularly through EU regulations like the CSRD and EU Taxonomy, is essential to provide the data necessary for effective systems-level analysis.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Operationalizing systems thinking in the finance sector is difficult because it requires sector-specific and company-specific analysis of complex value chains, which conflicts with the industry's preference for quantified, standardized, and comparable data.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The study identifies six dimensions for operationalizing systems thinking in sustainable finance: considering multiple sustainability dimensions, analyzing both positive and negative impacts, accounting for indirect effects, synthesizing co-benefits and trade-offs, maintaining a long-term perspective, and distinguishing between large and small impacts.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Practitioners view the SDGs as a useful overarching framework and a basis for a 'double materiality' approach, but note they have lost momentum to newer regulations like the EU Taxonomy and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Current sustainability reporting often suffers from 'cherry-picking,' where companies emphasize positive impacts and a narrow range of topics (predominantly climate) while neglecting negative impacts and other critical environmental or social issues.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"There is limited evidence of investors systematically considering indirect effects or the interlinkages (co-benefits and trade-offs) between different sustainability impacts.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The study reviewed three tools for systems analysis: the World Benchmarking Alliance SDG2000, which focuses on global influential companies and 'systems transformations'; the Upright Project, which uses machine learning for 'net impact' scoring; and the Future-Fit Foundation, which defines 'break-even goals' for a sustainable economy.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Standardized and audited sustainability reporting, such as that mandated by the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), is seen as a critical lever to provide the transparency and data needed for systems-level analysis.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Short-term financial horizons, particularly in banking where the longest horizon is often five years, hinder the ability of companies and investors to address systemic risks and long-term sustainability.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-8","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"A 'soft' systems thinking approach, based on qualitative expert opinion rather than purely quantitative models, may be more appropriate for the finance sector given the current lack of complete empirical data for broad sustainability interactions.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"sei-001514#insight-9","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["sustainable finance","Sustainable Development Goals","environmental, social and corporate governance","climate change","biodiversity","greenhouse gas emissions","life cycle assessment"],"geography_discussed":["European Union","Sweden"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["pilot study","exploratory research","tool review","practitioner interviews"]},{"id":"wri-001617","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/wri-001617","title":"What Investors Want from Sustainability Data","publisher":{"name":"World Resources Institute","organization":"world-resources-institute"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2019-02-12","source_url":"https://www.wri.org/insights/what-investors-want-sustainability-data","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The report examines the challenges facing sustainable investing due to substandard ESG data, highlighting issues such as lack of standardization, poor coverage, and a specific inability to quantify physical climate risks. Based on interviews with investment practitioners managing $5.2 trillion in assets, it argues that while disclosure frameworks like TCFD and SASB are improving the landscape, investors still lack the granular asset-level data and standardized methodologies required to translate sustainability metrics into financial materiality. The document proposes several solutions, including the development of a Physical Resilience Protocol and the use of geospatial data to fill context gaps in corporate reporting.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"wri-001617#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Investors face significant barriers to scaling sustainable investing due to four primary data limitations: incomplete coverage (particularly for fixed income, small cap, and emerging market companies), inconsistent reporting metrics due to the voluntary nature of disclosures, poor quality of data that relies on boilerplate language rather than quantitative indicators, and a lack of transparency in the proprietary methodologies used by rating agencies.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"wri-001617#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"There is a critical gap in the ability of investors to manage physical climate risks, such as sea level rise and extreme weather, because they lack standard measurement methods and the asset-level data necessary to convert these risks into financial terms.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"wri-001617#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"While climate-related scenario analysis is a key TCFD recommendation, it is currently hindered by a lack of standard methods and consistent assumptions, leading to results that are not comparable across companies and leaving investors skeptical or confused about their utility.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"wri-001617#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Climate change creates material social risks that are often overlooked in ESG data, including increased interpersonal violence and conflict, declines in food security and nutritional value, health risks, labor productivity decreases, and the intensification of existing inequalities.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"wri-001617#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"To improve sustainability accounting, the document recommends several advances: the creation of underlying methodologies for measuring physical risks (similar to the GHG Protocol), new research to link climate stressors to business revenue and profit, better guidance for scenario analysis, and the integration of geospatial data with asset-level data to provide environmental context.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"wri-001617#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["climate risk","carbon dioxide emissions","Scope 3","methane emissions","sea level rise","food security","GHG Protocol","Sustainable Development Goals"],"geography_discussed":["France","California"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["market assessment","practitioner interviews"]},{"id":"iisd-002081","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/iisd-002081","title":"Report for SEED Initiative Research Programme: Scale up and Replication for social and environmental enterprises","publisher":{"name":"International Institute for Sustainable Development","organization":"international-institute-for-sustainable-development"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2008","source_url":"https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/seed_scale_enterprises.pdf","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The report examines the challenges of scaling up and replicating social and environmental enterprises, contrasting the 'large scale' goals of international donors with the modest growth ambitions of local entrepreneurs. It identifies a gap in recognition and reward programmes, which often act as catalysts but lack proactive strategies to create the enabling environments necessary for systemic transformation. Based on SEED award winners, the report warns that forced scaling can risk over-extension or environmental degradation and recommends tailored support, longer-term engagement, and peer learning to foster sustainable growth.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"The report distinguishes between 'replication' (or 'scale out'), which is the transfer of a tested concept to a different location to repeat success, and 'scale up', which involves expanding a tested concept in terms of targets, revenues, or people served.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"There is a disconnect between the 'step change' goals of the international development community—such as national poverty reduction—and the goals of local small, micro and medium sized enterprises (SMMEs), which often focus on basic economic viability and modest local benefits.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Most recognition and reward programmes lack concerted strategies for promoting or reporting on scale-up and replication, typically placing the burden on the winning enterprise to demonstrate its own growth.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Scaling up can introduce significant risks for local enterprises, including the danger of over-extending organizational capacity or causing environmental harm, such as the overharvesting of wild resources seen in Nepal.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Successful replication is not a simple matter of communication or seed funding; it requires a favorable local business environment, receptivity among beneficiaries, and specific leadership and ownership that may not exist in a new jurisdiction.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"To effectively support scale-up, the report suggests that programmes must move beyond being catalysts to becoming proactive agents that help create 'enabling environments'—including supportive policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks—which are often beyond the influence of the enterprises themselves.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"iisd-002081#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["sustainable development","biodiversity conservation","sustainable agriculture","climate change"],"geography_discussed":["Bolivia","Peru","Nigeria","Cambodia","Madagascar","Vietnam","Ecuador","Brazil","Sierra Leone","Nepal","India","Sri Lanka"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["literature review","case study","practitioner interviews"]}]}