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The document highlights that EVs in Minnesota produce significantly lower global warming emissions than gasoline cars, with an average of 2.5 metric tons of CO2e per year compared to 4.9 metric tons. It notes that rural Minnesota drivers can save an average of $750 on fuel, while home charging in Minneapolis is equivalent to paying $0.67 per gallon of gasoline. EV sales in the state grew by 103 percent between 2017 and 2018. The report advocates for extending federal tax credits, implementing purchase incentives, and expanding the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program to further support the market.

The document analyzes the tourism global value chains (GVCs), distinguishing between leisure and business tourism. It identifies that in Africa, the 'package booking' channel is more durable than in other regions, but the dominance of global lead firms often leads to leakages and underdeveloped linkages with local industries. While business tourism is a significant driver and has fostered the growth of African travel management companies like Satguru, the leisure sector faces constraints such as low domestic demand and restrictive government policies. The paper suggests that upgrading the value chain requires improvements in infrastructure, skills training—noting a lack of certified schools beyond Kenya and Zambia—and the deregulation of air markets to support low-cost carriers.

The document examines the 'viability gap' in mini-grid business models, where high capital costs and low-revenue customer bases make private investment challenging. It outlines various retail tariff approaches—ranging from uniform national tariffs to value-based pricing—and details subsidy structures, emphasizing output-based capital subsidies for distribution. The guide provides specific country examples from Africa and Asia and offers management considerations to reduce policy uncertainty and administrative overhead for developers.

The report finds that a significant portion of the U.S. coal fleet is now more expensive to operate than replacing it with new local wind and solar power. In 2018, 74% of the fleet was 'at risk' of being undercut by renewables, a figure projected to rise to 86% by 2025. The analysis emphasizes that these findings are conservative because they only consider resources within 35 miles of existing plants and do not account for broader transmission expansion or combined energy portfolios.

The report argues that Brazil can align agricultural growth with natural resource protection by linking rural credit access to compliance with the Forest Code. It proposes amplifying credit limits for producers without environmental liabilities or those with approved Environmental Regularization Programs (PRA). The authors assert that this alignment would require no additional treasury resources, as it merely redirects existing funds toward producers providing public goods like forest conservation. The document highlights that a significant portion of current credit contracts are near their limits, suggesting that such a policy would have a substantial impact. It draws parallels to the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, which conditions payments on environmental rules, and notes that previous Brazilian Central Bank resolutions linking credit to environmental compliance in the Amazon led to a 15% reduction in deforestation between 2008 and 2011.

The white paper proposes increasing credit limits for Brazilian rural producers who comply with the Forest Code, specifically those without environmental liabilities or those with approved regularization programs. It argues that this alignment would use public subsidies to provide public goods (environmental conservation), improve international trade competitiveness, and accelerate agricultural modernization. The authors suggest reinstating rules from previous Central Bank resolutions (4.106/2012 and 4.226/2013) to implement these limits. Analysis of 2016/2017 data shows that 14% of the total credit volume across ten analyzed lines was granted in contracts exceeding 95% of their limits, indicating a significant potential impact for producers who could benefit from expanded limits.

The document outlines the challenges businesses face when extracting saline groundwater, specifically the production of brine during treatment processes like reverse osmosis. It categorizes brine management into direct discharge and treatment for resource recovery, noting that most solutions are constrained by high capital and operational costs or strict regulatory requirements. Key barriers include a 2019 liquids-to-landfill ban and high costs for sea outfall pipelines and crystallization technologies.

The report evaluates the EU's Green Line Regulation (GLR) as a tool for liberal peace-building in Cyprus. While legally successful in providing a basis for movement across the divide, it has been only partially successful in generating economic activity. This failure is attributed to design flaws in the GLR and domestic legal, political, and psychological barriers.

The report argues that Brazil can align economic growth with its Paris Agreement commitments by investing in more productive land use, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and improved transportation logistics. It concludes that the returns from climate-friendly investments will outweigh the costs of inaction.

The document outlines the state of Perú's green economy transition, noting that while the public sector has been slowed by political turmoil and corruption, the private sector—particularly green SMEs—is emerging as a driver for change. It identifies critical barriers for green businesses, including limited access to finance, a lack of labeling standards, and tax systems that favor 'brown' businesses. The text emphasizes the need for better alignment of scattered initiatives and the potential for international cooperation (via PAGE, GIZ, and GGGI) to help implement a national green growth plan.

The report identifies that the typical LCOE for well-run minigrids is at least $0.60 per kWh, which is too expensive for widespread use. It proposes six cost-reduction pathways—hardware standardization, demand stimulation, customer engagement, clustered project development, low-cost financing, and regulatory reform—to bring the LCOE down to $0.25 per kWh by 2020. The document also provides an investment roadmap to transition from grant funding to commercial debt.

The report examines the transition from command-and-control regulatory frameworks to incentive-compatible management (ICM) in highly migratory fisheries, focusing on tuna, billfish, and sharks. It analyzes the use of rights-based management (RBM)—such as individual transferable quotas (ITQs) and vessel day schemes—and market-based tools like Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certifications and Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs). Through case studies in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, the document argues that secure access rights and market incentives can rationalize fleets, reduce overfishing, and increase resource rents. It emphasizes a 'gradual' approach to implementation, the importance of stakeholder participation, and the need for enabling conditions such as robust monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) to ensure the success of these interventions.

The report argues that Brazil can align its economic growth with climate commitments by increasing agricultural productivity on degraded lands, diversifying its energy matrix with renewables, and improving transport infrastructure. It concludes that the financial returns of climate-friendly investments will outweigh the costs, with specific opportunities to double agricultural production without further deforestation and reduce total energy system costs through decarbonization.

Synapse Energy Economics identifies several critical flaws in South Africa's draft 2018 IRP, arguing that it relies on an unreasonably high load forecast, overstates the costs of renewable energy and battery storage, and ignores the economic optimality of retiring aging coal plants. The report highlights a significant disconnect between the IRP's optimized modeling—which suggests no new coal in the 2020s—and the proposed resource plan, which calls for over 6,500 MW of new coal capacity. Additionally, the authors criticize the plan for inadequate carbon budgeting, failure to account for water scarcity, and a lack of transparency in providing modeling data to stakeholders.

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that accelerating the transition from coal to clean energy in Illinois would improve public health, lower electric bills, and spur local investment without significantly increasing costs for ratepayers.

The document examines the use of tax incentives in the mining sector, particularly in developing countries, highlighting the risk of overly generous incentives that reduce government revenue. It specifically warns against unintended behavioural responses, such as the acceleration of production during time-limited tax holidays to maximize tax-free revenue, which ultimately depletes resources and lowers long-term fiscal receipts.

The report examines downstream beneficiation—the domestic processing of raw materials—noting that policies are often driven by political goals rather than economic analysis. It identifies key prerequisites for success, including guaranteed market demand, infrastructure, and inexpensive energy, while arguing that proximity to raw materials is increasingly less important than proximity to consumers. The document analyzes five policy options: incentives, prescriptive measures, negotiations, bidding, and government-led investments, highlighting that without a strong business case, these can lead to inefficient 'white elephant' projects. It concludes with recommendations for governments to use market and cost-benefit analyses, including considerations for environmental externalities and the risk of stranded assets in the oil and gas sector due to global decarbonization targets.

The paper analyzes South Africa's role as a major intra-African investor, noting that while it maintains a significant FDI stock, its relative influence is declining due to increased competition from China and other African nations. It highlights South Africa's function as a regional distribution hub and suggests that the country must deepen trade liberalization and improve public-private coordination to maintain its economic footprint on the continent.

The report argues that accelerating the retirement of coal plants in Illinois in favor of clean energy technologies will improve public health, reduce carbon emissions, and lower electricity bills without compromising grid reliability.

The report argues that accelerating the retirement of coal plants in Illinois, beyond the mandates of the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), would significantly improve public health and provide economic gains. Modeling shows that replacing coal with wind, solar, and energy storage is affordable and does not compromise grid reliability, as demonstrated by a case study of the Waukegan plant. The analysis highlights that pollution-burdened communities of color and low-income residents stand to benefit most from this transition.