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South Africa's G20 Moment: Leading a Justice-Driven Energy Transition through Critical Minerals
African Civil Society Organisations have urged the South African G20 Presidency to champion a justice-driven energy transition by focusing on critical minerals. They call for the support of the African Green Minerals Strategy to move the Global South up the value chain, the implementation of people-centred governance including Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), and the transformation of global industrial financing and technology transfer. The group advocates for public investment in infrastructure to address energy poverty for 650 million Africans and the creation of a Global Critical Energy Transition Minerals Skills Compact for women and youth.
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Document type: Statement
Unlocking Climate Finance for Least Developed Countries: Innovations and Opportunities
The document highlights a significant disparity in climate finance distribution, noting that LDCs received only 1% of global mitigation finance in 2022. It argues that current debt-based financial mechanisms are ill-suited for LDCs due to limited fiscal space, currency risks, and weak enabling environments. To address this, the report showcases successful innovations such as the Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) for parametric insurance and the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) for electrification in conflict zones. It concludes that donor governments, philanthropies, and development finance institutions must prioritize grant-based and highly concessional capital to build resilience in the most vulnerable nations.
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Document type: Report
Harnessing E-Waste for Sustainable Solar Solutions in Africa: The Startup Journey of Dozie Igweilo and QuadLoop
The document details the journey of Dozie Igweilo and his company, QuadLoop, which addresses energy poverty and e-waste in Nigeria. By sourcing materials from formal and informal waste networks, QuadLoop produces the IDunnu solar lantern—composed of 70% e-waste—and offers a Battery-as-a-Service model for other solar firms. The case study highlights the company's iterative product design process, its reliance on personal savings and a USD 10,000 Shell Foundation grant, and its commitment to local youth employment. It also identifies systemic barriers to African innovation, including high electricity costs, expensive international shipping, and high customs duties on components like printed circuit boards.
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Document type: Case study
Exploiter l'énergie renouvelable non utilisée au Canada
The paper emphasizes that Canada's transition to clean energy depends on expanding electricity transmission, which requires the active inclusion and ownership of Indigenous communities. It highlights the 'triple advantage' of Indigenous ownership—economic, social, and environmental—and provides five pragmatic recommendations for policymakers to support this integration. These include implementing a '5 Cs' framework (capital, clarity, capacity, corruption-free champions, and community champions), integrating traditional knowledge from Elders, and avoiding prescriptive, one-size-fits-all participation models. The authors argue that without such partnerships, the country cannot effectively move renewable energy from remote resource-rich areas to urban centers or eliminate persistent energy poverty in remote communities.
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Document type: Research paper
10 Key Principles for a Feminist and Just Energy Transition
The report outlines ten principles for a feminist and just energy transition, arguing that a shift to renewables must be accompanied by systemic change to avoid reproducing existing inequalities. It emphasizes the need for feminist people power, a care-centered economy, energy sovereignty, and the dismantling of the military-industrial complex. The document highlights the disproportionate impact of climate disasters on women and LGBTQIA+ individuals and calls for reparations for the Global South, the protection of Indigenous rights through Free, Prior and Informed Consent, and the rejection of 'false solutions' like carbon markets and geoengineering.
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Document type: Report
AFFORDABILITY OF BASIC SERVICES for South African Households
The report argues that South Africa's current free basic services (FBS) for electricity and water are insufficient to lift households out of poverty, providing only 'survival access' rather than 'developmental access'. It finds that for 40% of the population living below the lower-bound poverty line, current tariffs are unaffordable, often forcing a trade-off between paying for utilities and purchasing adequate nutrition. The document identifies 'adverse inclusion'—where physical connection to a grid exists but the terms of use are restrictive or unaffordable—as a primary barrier to socioeconomic development. It recommends increasing free electricity from 50kWh to 150kWh and water from 6kl to 8kl per month for the poorest 7.5 million households, while replacing municipal discretion in indigent registration with a national policy.
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Document type: Report
Energy transition policies in southeast Asia and China: scoping out the ‘just’ aspect
The report finds that while energy transition policies in China and Southeast Asia acknowledge justice indicators in some form, the overall representation is low, with all countries scoring below 50% of the maximum possible score. Environmental, restorative, and distributional justice are particularly underrepresented, while procedural justice and energy access score relatively higher. The study highlights a significant gap between policy goals and actual implementation, especially regarding land rights and labour protections for fossil fuel workers.
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Document type: Report
Informing an Illustrative People’s Energy Planning process Final Report
The report uses the SATIMGE modelling framework to compare a least-cost Reference Case against various Policy Scenarios and an 'Ideal Energy Scenario' for South Africa. The Ideal Energy Scenario targets net zero CO2 by 2050 with a cumulative GHG limit of 8 Gt CO2-eq, featuring a systemic shift to 80% public transport, expanded social provisioning for low-income households (including 6.5 million solar water heaters), and a domestic clean energy manufacturing sector with 85% local content. Results indicate that while total system investment costs increase, an affordable and socially inclusive transition is possible, with energy sector employment increasing due to localisation measures, despite a slight relative decline in economy-wide employment compared to the Reference Case.
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Document type: Report
Recommendations to Strengthen the First Draft of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference Outcome Document
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) proposes revisions to the first draft of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference Outcome Document to increase ambition and specificity. Key recommendations include phasing out fossil fuel subsidies without 'inefficient' loopholes, strengthening natural resource taxation, and establishing a broad-based debt-relief initiative. The report also advocates for a phased approach to climate finance in least developed countries and the integration of green public procurement to align fiscal systems with climate goals.
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Document type: Report
How the G7 Can Advance Action on Fossil Fuel Subsidies in 2025
G7 countries are on track to miss their 2025 deadline to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, with total subsidies reaching a record USD 282 billion in 2023. The surge was primarily driven by consumer subsidies for natural gas and petroleum to mitigate energy price volatility following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While some members have implemented domestic reforms or joined coalitions like COFFIS and CETP, the author argues that the G7 must now drop the 'inefficient' qualifier, establish national action plans, and prohibit all subsidies to coal and fossil fuel production to align with 1.5°C climate pathways.
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Document type: Research paper
WHO PAYS WHAT FOR INDONESIA'S GREEN TRANSITION?
The report examines Indonesia's path toward net-zero emissions by 2060, highlighting a significant gap between current investment levels and the estimated annual need of USD 73–76 billion. It argues that foreign climate finance is often debt-heavy and unreliable, urging a shift toward domestic funding and structural reforms. The analysis covers the banking sector's limited capacity to finance renewable energy, the underperformance of the national carbon market, and the socioeconomic disparities in energy access. It proposes an "Indonesian Way" consisting of eight strategic actions, including targeted subsidies and the development of a domestic clean-tech ecosystem, to ensure a just and sovereign transition.
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Document type: Report
Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector
The document asserts that gender equality is essential for achieving universal energy access by 2030, noting that women reinvest up to 90% of their income into community livelihoods. It provides a framework of recommendations for renewable energy (RE) companies to use gender-disaggregated data and promote female leadership, and for investors to fund capacity building and digital tools for women. The paper illustrates these points through three case studies: a solar irrigation project in Jharkhand, India; the DESFERS vocational training programme in the Sahel region; and a female-led solar enterprise in Maharashtra, India.
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Document type: Report
Joint letter to establish an EU lending facility for ETS2 revenue for member states
A joint letter calling for an EU lending facility to frontload future ETS2 revenues, allowing Member States to invest in zero-emission alternatives for vulnerable households before the 2027 implementation of carbon pricing for buildings and road transport.
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Document type: Statement
Justice and inclusion in the energy transition and developmental finance
The document is a global communiqué from March 2025 detailing a consensus among 28 countries to prioritize justice and inclusivity in the energy transition. It emphasizes the insufficiency of current investment levels in developing countries and calls for the use of concessional financing, technology transfer, and country-specific transition plans to eradicate energy poverty and build climate resilience. The signatories commit to fostering domestic manufacturing, diversifying supply chains, and strengthening regional cooperation projects such as Mission 300 and the RELAC Initiative to align national investment with Paris Agreement goals.
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Document type: Statement
Fewer Freezing Nights
Analysis of 232 U.S. cities shows that 91% have experienced a long-term decrease in freezing nights since 1970, with an average reduction of 15 nights. This trend is most pronounced in the West, Northeast, and Southwest, and is attributed to climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels. While fewer freezing nights may reduce acute cold-exposure risks and home heating costs, the trend threatens snow-fed water supplies, winter recreation economies, and fruit crop yields that require winter chill, while potentially expanding the range of disease-carrying pests.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Unearthing the Reality of “Zombie Energy Systems” in Africa’s Energy Transition
The paper defines Zombie Energy Systems (ZES) as outdated, inefficient, and environmentally harmful energy assets that persist in Africa despite being obsolete. It argues that the current international focus on new renewable energy projects overlooks the necessity of decommissioning or rehabilitating these failing systems, which include ageing power plants, inefficient grids, and second-hand appliances. The authors trace the origins of ZES to colonial legacies, poor maintenance, and political corruption, and propose a holistic strategy involving comprehensive system assessments, regulatory strengthening, and local capacity building to ensure a just and effective energy transition.
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Document type: Research paper
U-turn on EU’s emissions trading system for road transport and buildings carries huge environmental, social and economic price tag
Carbon Market Watch opposes efforts by politicians in countries like Poland and Czechia to reverse or delay the EU's ETS2 carbon pricing system for buildings and road transport. The organization argues that the ETS2 is critical for achieving a 42% emission reduction in these sectors by 2030 and a 55% net reduction overall by 2050. It highlights that the system includes social protections, such as the €86 billion Social Climate Fund and a €45 per tonne soft price cap, to protect vulnerable populations. The document warns that weakening the system would increase future economic costs, exacerbate the climate crisis, and undermine the EU's energy sovereignty.
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Document type: Statement
Renewables done right
The fact sheet 'Renewables done right' by Friends of the Earth International advocates for a systemic shift in the energy transition to avoid replicating the extractive harms of fossil fuels. It argues that renewable energy must be treated as a common good, emphasizing energy sufficiency, community ownership, and the protection of land rights. Through case studies in India, Argentina, Palestine, and Scotland, the document illustrates the risks of large-scale corporate projects—such as land grabbing and water scarcity—and proposes alternatives like circular systems, decentralized ownership, and the implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
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Document type: Fact sheet
THE CYPRUS AGENDA: How Cyprus can shape the EU climate, energy and resilience agenda during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, January–June 2026
The policy brief proposes that Cyprus leverage its unique island profile and Mediterranean position during its 2026 EU Council Presidency to advance EU-level action on water scarcity, climate adaptation, energy security, and transport decarbonisation. Key recommendations include establishing a Mediterranean Resilience Summit, a Water & Climate Security Forum, and an EU-SIDS Compact 2030, while steering legislative processes such as the Energy Security Framework and ETS revisions to support affordability and resilience.
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Document type: Policy brief
Managing a Just Transition: Reskilling of Affected Communities in Fossil Fuel Intensive Sectors
The document examines the socio-economic challenges of the energy transition in South Africa and Brazil, focusing on the gap between decarbonisation goals and the actual reskilling of vulnerable workforces. In South Africa, the transition is complicated by a heavy reliance on coal for electricity and high unemployment, while Brazil faces challenges in balancing its clean energy mix with high emissions from agriculture and deforestation. Both nations struggle with structural inequality and the need for robust social protection systems to ensure that the shift to green industries does not exacerbate existing poverty or exclude informal workers.
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Document type: Research paper