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Finance for energy access in 20 high-impact countries remains significantly below the levels required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030. While electricity finance reached a peak of USD 36 billion in 2017, only one-third benefited residential users. Clean cooking finance saw a dramatic 73% drop in 2017 compared to the 2015-16 average. The report highlights a critical under-investment in Sub-Saharan Africa and a reliance on large-scale grid projects over decentralized solutions. It also examines the specific barriers faced by women and displaced persons and explores innovative financing mechanisms like Result Based Financing and securitization to bridge the investment gap.

The document explores the integration of customer clean energy demand into utility planning, focusing on the role of Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) in the US. It argues that early collaboration between utilities and customers can lead to more efficient clean energy procurement, faster decarbonization, and lower costs. The report details the IRP process, identifies barriers to customer engagement—such as limited resources and lack of transparency—and provides pathways for involvement through direct engagement, stakeholder forums, and regulatory proceedings.

The report advocates for a shift in the role of hydropower within global energy grids, moving away from high-impact dams toward a mix of wind, solar, storage, and low-impact hydropower. It demonstrates through modeling in Chile and Uganda that protecting free-flowing rivers and national parks has minimal impact on system costs. The document highlights the Mekong River basin as a critical area where strategic planning could prevent the loss of migratory fish biomass and delta sediment. It concludes that achieving this vision requires system-scale planning, regulatory reform, and redirected financial flows from multilateral development banks and institutional investors.

A survey of 966 registered U.S. voters conducted in late 2018 found that 81% support the policy goals of the Green New Deal, including a majority of Republicans (64%). The report suggests this high level of bipartisan support may be due to the fact that 82% of respondents had heard nothing about the Deal prior to the survey and were not told which political party championed the proposal.

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.

ClientEarth warns that the Governance Regulation (GR) may allow EU Member States to bypass meaningful public participation during the initial drafting of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). The briefing argues that waiting until after the first draft is submitted to the European Commission risks ignoring the interests of citizens and renewable energy developers in favor of fossil fuel operators. It highlights potential legal breaches of the Aarhus Convention and the SEA Directive, noting that some countries, such as Romania, have provided insufficient consultation windows (seven days). ClientEarth calls for a minimum eight-week consultation period before the first draft submission to ensure all policy options remain open.

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.

South Africa's Low-Emission Development Strategy (SA LEDS) 2050 establishes a framework to place the country on a low-carbon trajectory while ensuring socio-economic development. The strategy focuses on a 'peak, plateau and decline' (PPD) emissions trajectory, with a peak projected between 2020 and 2025. Key interventions span the energy sector (diversifying the electricity mix via the Integrated Resource Plan and REIPPP), industry (energy efficiency and carbon taxes), AFOLU (conservation agriculture and afforestation), and waste (waste-to-energy and recycling). The document emphasizes a 'Just Transition' to protect vulnerable workers and communities, supported by research into hydrogen, fuel cells, and carbon capture and storage. Implementation relies on a combination of domestic funding and international climate finance.

The report describes Poland as an EU laggard in energy transition due to an unprecedented dependency on coal and a lack of up-to-date energy strategy. While the power sector is starting to diversify through new RES auctions and gas-fired installations, the report highlights significant challenges, including the '10H rule' blocking onshore wind and a history of poor EU law transposition. It argues that the EU Clean Energy Package and rising carbon costs are key drivers that could accelerate the transition if supported by a stable national legal framework.

The report finds that a majority of US registered voters believe global warming is happening and human-caused, with notable increases in these beliefs among Republicans. There is broad cross-party support for clean energy policies like the Green New Deal and carbon taxes, though voters remain split on fossil fuel expansion. While many express a willingness to take collective action, few have actually contacted elected officials in the past year.

The report argues that early action on just energy transitions can minimize negative impacts on workers and communities while maximizing opportunities in low-carbon sectors. It outlines a 'How-To' framework consisting of four key stages: understanding the political economy context, identifying champions, making the case through inclusive communication, and implementing complementary policies such as retraining and economic diversification. The document emphasizes that a just transition is not a fixed set of rules but a negotiated process based on social dialogue and tripartism. Through case studies, it demonstrates various approaches: Canada's use of a high-level Task Force, Egypt and Indonesia's reallocation of fossil fuel subsidies into social and infrastructure programs, and Poland's use of 'golden handshakes' and regional support for mining communes. It concludes that overcoming 'carbon lock-in' requires transparent communication, tangible short-term benefits, and the mobilization of dedicated funding from sources like energy taxes or subsidy reforms.

The document argues that while there is significant global potential for policy coherence between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, this must be translated into national-level implementation. Using the NDC-SDG Connections tool, the authors analyzed over 7,000 climate activities, finding strong synergies in energy, agriculture, and water. However, it warns that trade-offs—such as bioenergy competing with food security for land—are rarely documented in policy papers and must be proactively managed to avoid maladaptation.

The report finds that Estonia's 2005 ecological tax reform was only partially implemented, with success largely limited to fiscal goals rather than behavioral or environmental changes. While excise duties on energy products and electricity were generally increased, transport and pollution taxes saw minimal progress. Consequently, several negative trends persisted or worsened between 2005 and 2017, including a 43% increase in direct material input, a rise in the number of passenger cars, and continued reliance on oil shale for electricity production. Positive developments were noted in the growth of renewable electricity and a reduction in certain air pollutants, though greenhouse gas emissions from transport increased by 10%.

California has established a target of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045 and increased its renewable energy requirement to 60 percent by 2030. To reach these goals, the Union of Concerned Scientists proposes ten strategies: improving energy efficiency (especially during evening hours), diversifying renewable sources (wind, solar, geothermal, and low-carbon bioenergy), phasing out natural gas equitably, using renewables for grid reliability services, investing in multi-timescale energy storage, integrating western electricity markets, leveraging distributed energy resources, electrifying buildings and transport, shifting demand to match production, and developing a skilled workforce.

Lenovo has implemented a comprehensive climate strategy focusing on energy efficiency and renewable energy to reduce its global Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Since 2009/10, the company has achieved a 32 percent reduction in these emissions, tracking toward a 40 percent target for 2020. Key initiatives include a low-temperature solder manufacturing process that cuts carbon emissions by 35 percent and the implementation of over 150 energy efficiency and renewable energy projects worldwide. Lenovo also manages supply chain impacts by requiring at least 75 percent of direct suppliers by spend to have climate change reduction targets and collaborating with Green Freight Asia to improve fuel efficiency in transport.

An open letter from a coalition of climate and energy organisations calling for a more ambitious budget allocation for Horizon Europe's Cluster 4 to support the transition to a net-zero economy by 2050 and meet the targets of the Clean Energy Package.

The author calls on governments to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to address the cooling sector's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. With cooling-related CO2 emissions projected to rise from 8% to 15% by 2050, the document emphasizes the need for low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants and energy-efficient equipment to avoid a vicious cycle of increasing cooling demand and global warming.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) calls on the Ontario government to implement a comprehensive climate plan to address increasing health risks from extreme weather. The organization identifies transportation (33%), buildings (22%), and industry (18%) as the primary sources of emissions in Ontario and proposes specific interventions for each sector, including transit electrification, building code updates, and clean energy grants. CAPE advocates for a long-term hard emission target aligned with the 1.5°C global warming limit, benchmark targets, annual progress reports, and five-year plan reviews.

The document outlines the framework for green panda bonds—yuan-denominated bonds issued in mainland China by foreign entities to fund green projects. It details the regulatory roles of the PBoC, CSRC, and NDRC, the requirements for foreign issuers (such as solvency and credit reputation), and the specific steps for issuance, including the need for green asset identification and post-issuance reporting. It highlights that while the market is growing, with China being the second largest green bond market as of October 2018, green panda bonds represent less than 1% of China's total green bonds. The guide also notes the dominance of commercial banks as investors and the role of external verifiers in ensuring alignment with both Chinese and international standards.

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.