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The report evaluates a pilot program in Mysore, India, where LPG subsidies were transitioned from price-point subsidies to electronic cash transfers (DBTL). Based on interviews with 120 beneficiaries and focus group discussions, the study finds that the scheme faced significant administrative hurdles, including excessive paperwork and failures in subsidy delivery. It highlights negative impacts on household behavior, such as increased short-term borrowing and a return to biomass fuels for cooking due to the higher upfront cost of unsubsidized cylinders. The report concludes that the pilot was poorly implemented and generally preferred the previous subsidy system.

The report evaluates India's approach to green industrial policy (GIP) within its wind and solar energy sectors. It finds that while policies have successfully advanced 'green' objectives—such as energy security, health improvements, and greenhouse gas emission abatement—the 'industrial' objective of creating globally competitive domestic firms has been less successful.

The analysis of Brazil's PROINFA program reveals that wind farm developers systematically manipulated capacity factor (FC) estimates to maximize tariffs and contracted energy volumes. This behavior led to a 14% shortfall in expected energy production and 12% overpayments in the first year of operation. The study suggests that a simple 1% interest penalty on excess payments would have eliminated the incentive for such manipulation.

The study analyzes the PROINFA feed-in tariff in Brazil, finding that project developers systematically misreported capacity factors (CFs) due to a tiered price schedule and a lack of penalties for overpayments. This misreporting led to a 14% gap between expected and actual energy production and resulted in 12% of first-year payments being over-payments. The authors suggest that a simple 1% interest rate penalty on overpayments would eliminate this misreporting, making the policy more cost-effective.

The evaluation of the Kotkasim pilot project reveals that while direct cash transfers effectively reduced kerosene leakages to the black market, they also led to a dramatic decline in household kerosene consumption due to higher upfront costs and poor banking access. The study highlights significant implementation gaps, including inadequate information dissemination and the financial burden placed on Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers. Recommendations include improving financial literacy, digitizing records, and ensuring better coordination between district authorities and beneficiaries.

The Rajasthan Sun Technique CSP plant in India was made viable through a combination of subsidized power purchase agreements (PPAs), long-maturity debt from international public lenders, and a first-mover strategy by a financially strong private developer. While the project achieved low investment and production costs, the broader National Solar Mission (NSM) phase one faced significant deployment delays due to the 'winner's curse' in reverse auctions, overestimation of solar resources, and financing challenges. The project demonstrated high local content (61-71%) and the benefits of linear Fresnel technology, though it lacked energy storage. Key recommendations for scaling CSP in India include improving auction design, incentivizing storage, and mobilizing local private finance to reduce reliance on foreign public debt.

The report finds that debt-related federal policies, particularly a combination of reduced-cost and extended-tenor debt, are more cost-effective in the long term than existing subsidies like generation-based incentives and viability gap funding. While existing policies often provide better short-term budget efficiency and production incentives, debt-related instruments offer superior subsidy-recovery potential and overall reduction in total subsidy costs. The analysis highlights a trade-off between long-term cost-effectiveness and short-term capital outlay, suggesting that interest subsidies and accelerated depreciation are viable short-term alternatives to current federal support levels.

The report finds that India's LPG subsidy system is highly regressive, primarily benefiting wealthy urban households while the poorest fifth of the population receives less than 1% of the total direct subsidy. While an initial household cylinder cap of six in September 2012 temporarily limited subsidy growth and improved distribution, subsequent increases of the cap to nine and then 12 cylinders effectively reversed these gains. The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) program is criticized for failing to decouple subsidy receipt from fuel consumption and for introducing administrative inefficiencies without improving equity or fiscal responsibility.

The report evaluates India's 'Green Industrial Policy' as a blend of market-failure corrections and traditional industrial development goals. While the 'green' objectives—energy access, security, and GHG abatement—have seen success, the industrial policy goals of creating a competitive domestic manufacturing base and fostering R&D have fared poorly. The solar sector has struggled against cheap imports, while the wind sector, though more mature, has seen a decline in global competitiveness and a recent drop in installations following the withdrawal of tax incentives.

The paper evaluates the Adaptation Fund's early project approvals, finding that while equity is the primary motivation, the use of uniform national caps rather than formalized vulnerability metrics may result in inequitable outcomes.

The report assesses the Risk/Reward Incentive Mechanism (RRIM) implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2007. While the RRIM increased senior management's attention toward energy efficiency and drove the expansion of cost-effective programs like lighting, it struggled to protect ratepayers due to the abandonment of the 'true-up' process. The mechanism's design—characterized by sharp earnings 'cliffs' and retroactive implementation—led to significant regulatory conflict and unpredictable earnings, which limited its value to shareholders. The report concludes that while the RRIM was a valuable experiment, future incentives should be implemented before program design, avoid sharp payment distinctions, and be designed for predictability and repeatability.

The report analyzes Germany's energy transition, focusing on the solar PV and wind energy sectors. It evaluates the impact of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and its feed-in tariffs (FiT), comparing the economic, technological, and environmental outcomes of both sectors. While wind energy is found to be more competitive and innovative with lower relative subsidy costs, the solar PV sector has faced a severe crisis due to intense competition from Chinese suppliers. The document argues for a systemic approach to green industrial policy, suggesting reforms to the FiT to increase flexibility and competitiveness while addressing grid stability and institutional fragmentation.

The report evaluates Estonia's implementation of a cluster of four global biodiversity conventions using a 15-category methodology. It concludes that overall implementation effectiveness is relatively high, with 'Cross-border cooperation' scoring as strong and the remaining 14 categories scoring as moderate. While Estonia has a unified administrative system under the Ministry of the Environment and a comprehensive legal framework, the report identifies gaps in inter-sectoral coordination, stakeholder engagement, and the lack of a specific integrated action plan for these conventions.

The document examines how the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) has been implemented in Cambodia. It finds that while SAICM has driven positive outcomes—such as a new draft law on chemicals and improved inter-ministerial coordination—significant barriers remain, including a lack of ground-level enforcement capacity and inadequate long-term funding. The brief highlights that SAICM's voluntary status, broad scope, and multi-stakeholder approach are generally beneficial for developing countries. However, it criticizes the global monitoring system, noting that the 20 existing indicators are insufficient for measuring actual progress toward the '2020 goal' of minimizing adverse chemical impacts on health and the environment.

The GES-REG project coordinated efforts between Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Sweden to implement the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020. The project identified significant variations in how these countries conducted Economic and Social Analysis (ESA), with Latvia and Sweden using an ecosystem services approach while Estonia and Finland used a marine accounts approach. Valuation studies in Estonia and Latvia indicated a public willingness to pay for environmental improvements, with Estonians potentially willing to pay over EUR 11 million annually and Latvians up to EUR 3.8 million per year to reach GES targets. The brief emphasizes that due to data gaps, initial Programmes of Measures (PoMs) will likely rely on a combination of qualitative expert judgments and limited quantitative evidence. It recommends further cross-border coordination on baseline 'business-as-usual' (BAU) scenarios and the harmonization of ecosystem service classifications to better support ecosystem-based governance of the Baltic Sea.

The document outlines SEI's research on climate finance and carbon markets, arguing that adaptation finance priorities are political rather than scientific, and that private sector finance is unlikely to meet the primary needs of the poor and vulnerable. It also evaluates the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), suggesting that excluding problematic project types, such as coal power, would improve carbon market efficiency.

The Beijing Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) reduced CO2 emissions by 4.87 MtCO2 cumulatively between 2013 and 2015, contributing to an earlier emissions peak for the city. The majority of these reductions (98% of power-related cuts) were driven by demand-end management, where companies reduced electricity consumption to meet emission caps, while reductions from power plants within Beijing were negligible. Carbon offsets had no observable impact on allowance prices in the 2014 cycle due to limited supply, particularly of Beijing-originated offsets. The study suggests that a future national ETS should consider including indirect emissions from electricity consumption and implement more stringent caps on direct electricity production to be effective.

The report analyzes 11 CDM projects across five Indian states, concluding that sustainable development through these projects is largely a 'myth'. It finds severe discrepancies between PDD promises and actual impacts, noting that industrial projects often use CER revenue to expand production, leading to increased pollution. Most projects failed to provide promised local employment, healthcare, or education, and some caused significant harm through illegal land acquisition and environmental degradation. Only the Muni Seva Ashram solar community kitchen project was identified as successfully contributing to social, economic, environmental, and technological well-being.

The document evaluates the potential for carbon leakage in South Korea as it implements the Korean emission trading scheme (KETS). Using methodology from the EU ETS Directive, the analysis finds that several manufacturing sectors face a moderate to high risk of leakage, primarily driven by high trade intensity rather than additional production costs. The report highlights that while energy efficiency and fuel switching have historically reduced emissions intensity, the recovery of emission-intensive industries like steel and cement has increased structural risks. It recommends that the South Korean government consider mitigation policies such as free allowances, border adjustments, or import taxes to prevent the displacement of emissions to regions with less stringent climate policies.

The report assesses the economic and environmental impacts of UK biofuel policies in 2011, highlighting the financial support provided to the industry, the varying carbon abatement costs between ethanol and biodiesel, and the range of jobs created by the sector.