Search Climate Insights Directory

The report "Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2019" analyzes the financing requirements to achieve universal energy access (SDG7) by 2030 in Madagascar, the Philippines, and Uganda. It focuses on the roles of mini-grids, stand-alone solar, and improved cookstoves (ICS), estimating a total aggregate investment need of USD 6.4 billion across the three countries, including USD 1.8 billion specifically to address affordability gaps.

The 2019 report 'Dynamiser le financement de l’accès à l’énergie : UN TOUR D’HORIZON', produced by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Climate Policy Initiative, analyzes public and private financing for electricity and clean cooking access across 20 developing countries from 2013 to 2017. It highlights a significant gap between current investments and the funding required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) by 2030, noting that while electricity funding reached a record in 2017, clean cooking finance collapsed and most funds do not reach the most vulnerable populations.

The SEI Environmental Strategy for Myanmar (2019-2028) outlines a 10-year framework to support science-based decision-making for sustainable development. The strategy focuses on four primary themes: water resources and agriculture, gender and environment, sustainable energy, and climate change and disaster risk reduction, with a goal of helping Myanmar meet its commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework, and the Paris Agreement.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) submitted a briefing to the City of Calgary in December 2018, arguing that the city's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan is insufficient to protect public health. CAPE recommends that the City of Calgary eliminate the routine use of toxic pesticides in city-managed spaces and enact a municipal bylaw restricting non-essential pesticide use on residential and private lawns.

This report, produced by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in partnership with the CONECC German-Mexican Energy Partnership, identifies and evaluates options for reforming electricity subsidies in Mexico, specifically focusing on residential and agricultural consumers and the associated socioeconomic impacts.

This case study examines Rwanda's efforts to increase access to clean cooking solutions through political will and private sector mobilization, while contextualizing the broader challenge of declining finance and rising numbers of people without clean cooking access in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Life After Coal/Impilo Ngaphandle Kwamalahle Campaign, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights, groundWork, and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, formally opposes the Department of Environmental Affairs' (DEA) plan to establish an expert panel to provide guidance on managing sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from existing power plants. The campaign argues that such a panel is unnecessary, would delay compliance with Minimum Emission Standards (MES), and lacks a legislative basis for potentially weakening those standards.

This document consists of a series of letters and a report summary from the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) addressed to the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). The CER, representing various environmental groups, argues that the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) has failed to improve air quality since its 2007 declaration. The CER demands the urgent implementation of regulations to enforce the 2012 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), the elimination of 'rolling postponements' for emission standards granted to major polluters like Eskom and Sasol, and a formal response to the 'Broken Promises' report regarding the ongoing violation of constitutional rights to a healthy environment.

This briefing by the NewClimate Institute examines the transition from traditional climate finance, focused on mobilizing funds for mitigation and adaptation, toward 'Paris-aligned investing'. It evaluates the eligibility criteria used by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) against a framework that categorizes investments as 'Paris-aligned', 'misaligned', or 'conditional'.

A letter dated December 6, 2018, from Food Secure Canada and numerous co-signatories to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging leadership to implement a just, healthy, and sustainable national food policy and to finalize the Healthy Eating Strategy.

A letter from the IPP Office to the Centre for Environmental Rights providing an update on the Coal Baseload Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme, specifically regarding bid validity extensions for two preferred bidders.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development provides strategies to help governments in developed and developing countries implement just energy transitions, drawing on research and case studies from six countries.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) issued a position statement in December 2018 detailing the health, environmental, and social risks associated with hydraulic fracturing. The organization calls for a complete ban on new hydraulic fracturing projects and a halt to all fossil fuel exploration and extraction in Quebec.

This briefing by Energy Innovation explores financial mechanisms to manage the transition of investor-owned utilities from fossil fuel generation to clean energy, specifically focusing on the use of debt-for-equity swaps to refinance unrecovered plant investments.

This briefing by Energy Innovation examines how utility depreciation accounting and regulatory asset management influence the transition from coal-fired power plants to clean energy in the United States. It details the mechanisms regulators use to handle 'stranded assets'—plants that become uneconomic before their useful life ends—and the trade-offs between accelerated and extended depreciation schedules regarding consumer rates and investor returns.

This briefing by Energy Innovation examines the financial mechanisms available to regulated investor-owned utilities to transition from fossil fuel generation to clean energy. Using Colorado as a case study, the document outlines a three-step process for analyzing the marginal cost of energy (MCOE), managing the financial impacts of early coal plant retirements, and utilizing refinancing tools like debt-for-equity swaps and securitization to balance the interests of consumers, investors, and impacted communities.

This briefing by Energy Innovation introduces a series of tools designed to help regulators, utilities, and investors manage the financial transition from uneconomic coal-fired power plants to cheaper clean energy generation, using Colorado as a case study.

This policy brief outlines the "steel for fuel" investment strategy, where utilities replace uneconomic fossil fuel plants with renewable energy assets. By shifting from variable fuel expenses (which earn no return) to capital investments in wind and solar (which earn regulated returns), utilities can increase shareholder earnings while reducing costs for consumers. Using Xcel Energy as a primary example, the brief discusses the role of competitive bidding, the difference between utility-owned assets and Power Purchase Agreements, and the regulatory environment in the United States.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the role of rural infrastructure in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (zero hunger). It identifies four priority infrastructure categories and proposes diverse financing mechanisms to attract private capital and ensure long-term sustainability in rural agricultural regions.

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) evaluates the implementation of Estonia's Ecological Tax Reform (ÖMR), established in 2005. The analysis finds that while some fiscal goals were met—particularly regarding energy and electricity excise duties—the reform largely failed to reverse negative environmental trends or change consumer and producer behavior by 2018.