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This report by Ember analyzes electricity trends in the European Union during 2021, focusing on the impact of the fossil gas crisis, the growth of solar power, and the effect of declining nuclear output on decarbonization.

This report by Ember analyzes the trends in the EU-27 power sector for 2021, focusing on electricity demand, the shift in fuel sources, the growth of renewables, and the resulting impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Electricity Review 2022 by Ember analyzes EU-27 electricity generation data for 2021, highlighting a 'paradigm shift' where new renewable energy replaced expensive fossil gas instead of coal due to a price crisis. While wind and solar reached record generation, the report warns that the EU's power sector emissions are declining at less than half the rate required to meet 1.5°C targets, partly because renewables are replacing gas and declining nuclear capacity rather than coal.

This policy memo from RMI outlines strategies and recommendations for scaling green hydrogen to support sectors of the clean economy where electrification is not feasible, specifically targeting heavy industry and transportation.

This case study examines Spain's efforts to manage the decline of its coal industry through the 2019 Just Transition Strategy and the 2018 Plan Del Carbón. It details the shift from reactive social protections to a structured, participatory framework designed to diversify the economies of coal-dependent regions while meeting EU climate mandates.

The 2021 Climate, Environmental, and Energy Congressional Hearings Tracker is a fact sheet produced by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). It provides a comprehensive list of hearings held by various House and Senate committees throughout 2021 that focused on climate change, energy transition, environmental protection, and infrastructure resilience.

This document is an inception report and technical annexes for an external review of the World Resources Institute's (WRI) progress in implementing its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. Conducted by Agulhas Applied Knowledge and Open Cities, the review assesses WRI's effectiveness, relevance, and efficiency across seven global challenges, its core functions, and a specific deep-dive into its Africa strategy. The report details a mixed-methods methodology involving document reviews, 132 interviews, 16 focus group discussions, and an all-staff survey to triangulate programmatic results and the integration of gender and social equity.

This briefing from the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the structural decline of the coal mining sector in Colombia, using the 2020 crisis and the surrender of mining titles by Prodeco as evidence of the challenges facing a just transition toward a decarbonized economy.

This briefing by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) proposes a methodology to track incremental energy efficiency investments in certified green buildings. Using a global database of over 16,000 certifications from 2019-2020, the report argues that current green certifications are often inconsistent indicators of actual energy performance and that energy efficiency investments represent only a small fraction of total building construction costs.

This policy brief by Energy Innovation outlines the building electrification and energy efficiency provisions within the House version of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA). It details $12.5 billion in incentives for residential and commercial building decarbonization, alongside significant investments in affordable housing, workforce training, and the adoption of zero-energy building codes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consumer costs.

This RMI briefing argues that new gas-fired power plants in the United States are becoming increasingly uneconomic compared to Clean Energy Portfolios (CEPs). The document highlights a trend of gas plant cancellations and warns of significant stranded cost risks due to falling renewable energy prices and evolving policy priorities regarding health, jobs, and community impacts.

This research paper explores the intersection of trade policy and the transition to a low-carbon circular economy, arguing that circular solutions are indispensable for achieving global decarbonization goals. The authors advocate for government incentives to prioritize secondary materials over primary resources, the scaling of business models focused on product longevity and reuse, and the use of bilateral and regional trade agreements to eliminate barriers to circular goods and services.

This policy brief by RMI argues that the Build Back Better Act could be made more effective by allowing regulated utilities to opt out of 'tax normalization' requirements for stand-alone battery storage and transmission projects eligible for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). While the bill introduces positive changes such as direct pay and the option for solar developers to use the Production Tax Credit (PTC), the author contends that current normalization rules force utilities to retain some ITC benefits for shareholders rather than passing them to customers, thereby increasing costs and disincentivizing the deployment of critical grid infrastructure.

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyses the decarbonization potential of the heavy-duty vehicle sector in the EU up to 2030. It evaluates three indicative pathways to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, comparing the EU's 'Fit for 55' plan, an adjusted IEA scenario, and a linear reduction pathway. The authors conclude that while individual measures like electrification, energy efficiency, and biofuels are available, they must be combined to achieve significant reductions, though even a combined approach falls short of the most aggressive linear pathway to zero.

This SEI briefing, based on a study commissioned by Scania, argues that the European Union's heavy-duty vehicle sector can achieve greater emissions reductions by 2030 than currently planned in the "Fit for 55" package. The analysis suggests that a combined approach of energy efficiency, electrification, and biofuels could reduce emissions by 24% compared to 2019 levels.

This document provides detailed appendices for the proposed Estonian Hydrogen Roadmap 2021–2050. It outlines a phased transition toward a hydrogen economy, focusing on decarbonizing transport, industry, buildings, and the energy sector through the adoption of green hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

The 'Eesti Vesiniku Teekaart' (Estonian Hydrogen Roadmap 2021–2050) outlines a strategic framework to integrate green hydrogen into Estonia's industry, energy, and transport sectors to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The roadmap is divided into three phases: immediate piloting (2021–2025), scaling (2025–2030), and wide-scale adoption (2030–2050), focusing on leveraging Estonia's offshore wind potential and strategic location to build a sustainable hydrogen value chain.

This research paper examines the impact of existing primary steel production equipment on global greenhouse gas emissions and argues that the emissions commitment of this infrastructure is lower than previously estimated, shifting the focus of decarbonization toward the deployment of new technologies and demand reduction.

This policy brief by GreenCape examines how virtual platforms and international networks can help green small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome trade barriers exacerbated by COVID-19. It highlights the methodologies of the International Cleantech Network (ICN) in using a virtual collaboration platform and a structured 'maturing process' to connect SMEs with global cleantech opportunities, illustrated through case studies in Helsinki and New York.

The Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs argues that the lack of a formal, ministerial-level international agenda for climate and trade leads to policy silos and trade tensions. The author proposes the creation of a Trade Ministers’ Coalition for Cooperation on Climate Action to align global trade flows with the Paris Agreement and ensure a just transition.