Search Climate Insights Directory

This report by Ember examines Malaysia's electricity transition, arguing that leveraging the country's vast solar resources and improving grid flexibility through battery storage and regional interconnections can enhance energy security and affordability. It highlights the potential for solar to meet daytime demand peaks and suggests that aligning with more ambitious pathways, such as those from IRENA, could significantly reduce reliance on volatile fossil fuel imports.

This scoping study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines the mining sector's role in the global energy transition, focusing on its contribution to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in mineral-rich developing countries.

This research paper examines the role of vertical industrial policies in Africa, using the cement industries of Nigeria and Morocco as primary case studies to demonstrate how targeted government intervention can drive sustainable industrial growth and economic diversification.

This report by Ember analyzes the performance of coal-fired power plants in Türkiye, concluding that domestic coal plants fail to provide reliable baseload electricity due to low efficiency, high failure rates, and low capacity factors. The study highlights that coal generation reached a record 118 TWh in 2023, contributing 20% of the country's total emissions, and argues for an accelerated transition to renewable energy to meet climate targets and reduce economic losses.

This report by Ember examines the role of large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China's transition from coal power to renewable energy. It argues that while a strategy of diversification into renewables has successfully led to a relative decline in coal's share of the generation mix, China is approaching a critical turning point of absolute coal power decline. The authors advocate for a 'beyond-diversification' approach to manage the socio-economic impacts on the interconnected coal-electricity ecosystem and coal-dependent regions.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative analyzes how currency risk—specifically the mismatch between hard-currency debt and local-currency revenues—inhibits climate finance in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). It evaluates standard hedging tools and five innovative models designed to lower the cost of capital and deepen local financial markets to catalyze international private investment.

This briefing by Global Energy Monitor analyzes China's rapid expansion of nuclear power capacity, noting that China is building nearly half of the world's new nuclear power. While the country is positioned to become the world's second-largest nuclear fleet, overtaking France, its progress is tempered by a long-standing moratorium on inland nuclear plants and a massive volume of cancelled projects.

The 'Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report' (August 2024), produced by Mining Dialogues 360° and Good Governance Africa, evaluates the impact of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002 on the South African mining sector. The report finds that the mining industry is in a state of economic decline, characterized by falling GDP contribution, stagnant investment, and a depleted project pipeline. It identifies a combination of legislative shortcomings in the MPRDA, institutional capacity constraints within the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and structural failures in electricity and logistics as primary drivers of this underperformance. The report recommends urgent legislative amendments to the MPRDA, the professionalization of stakeholder relations to resolve a deep trust deficit, and the establishment of a new, inclusive vision for the industry to restore investor confidence and promote sustainable transformation.

This policy brief recommends that the Canadian government implement the Sustainable Jobs Act through joint governance, flexible definitions of sustainable employment, and increased Indigenous equity and ownership in clean energy. It emphasizes that for the energy transition to be just, it must advance Indigenous self-determination and provide comprehensive wrap-around supports for workforce development.

This briefing by RMI estimates the climate impacts of the transmission provisions within the draft Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 (EPRA). The analysis finds that the EPRA, in conjunction with FERC Order 1920, would significantly accelerate the expansion of regional and interregional transmission, enabling the deployment of clean energy to meet growing load and displace fossil fuel generation. In a central scenario, the EPRA is estimated to reduce cumulative US grid emissions by 6.5 Gt CO2 equivalent through 2050.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute outlines strategies for a just transition to a fossil-free transport system in Sweden. It identifies the socio-economic and geographic groups most at risk of negative impacts—particularly those in low-population density areas—and proposes a policy framework to ensure equity and political acceptance.

This briefing note by the Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (TESS) analyzes contributions from Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) members regarding the protection of human health within a proposed international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. It focuses on the work of two ad hoc intersessional open-ended expert groups meeting in Bangkok in August 2024 to inform the final negotiation session (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea, in November 2024.

This briefing by RMI argues that battery energy storage systems (BESS) are a cleaner, more flexible, and often more cost-effective alternative to fossil fuel resources for maintaining electric grid reliability. It details how batteries can manage variable renewable energy, provide critical stability services, and support grid restoration, while urging utilities to adopt all-source procurement processes to identify the most cost-optimal reliability solutions.

In the first half of 2024, wind and solar power generated 30% of the European Union's electricity, surpassing fossil fuels (27%) for the first time. This shift occurred despite a 0.7% rebound in electricity demand, driven by structural capacity growth and favorable weather conditions, leading to a 17% decline in fossil fuel generation and a 31% drop in power sector emissions compared to the first half of 2022.

This fact sheet describes a legal challenge brought by The Green Connection (TGC) and Natural Justice (NJ) against the environmental authorisation granted to Total Energies EP South Africa Block 567 (Pty) Ltd for oil and gas exploration off the coast of the Western Cape. It details the grounds for judicial review and reports Total's July 2024 announcement of its intention to withdraw from exploration block 567.

This fact sheet by Natural Justice details a legal challenge brought by The Green Connection (TGC) and Natural Justice (NJ) against the environmental authorisation granted to Total Energies EP South Africa Block 567 (Pty) Ltd for oil and gas exploration off the Western Cape coast. It specifically addresses a joinder application by Total to include Shell in the proceedings following Total's July 2024 announcement of its withdrawal from block 567.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the gap between Africa's vast renewable energy potential and its current capacity. It highlights the continent's critical role in the global energy transition due to its abundance of solar, wind, and hydro resources, as well as essential critical minerals. The document outlines systemic barriers to progress, including insufficient financing, a heavy reliance on imported technology, and a lack of local manufacturing. It proposes strategic interventions for the African Union and G20 to enhance technology transfer, mobilize climate finance, and integrate African nations into green value chains beyond the supply of raw materials.

This policy brief examines China's role in transferring green technology to the Global South, highlighting its leadership in renewable energy and the mechanisms used to disseminate this technology. It analyzes the achievements of initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund, while identifying critical challenges including gaps between environmental commitments and actual impacts, limited local operational capacity, and geopolitical tensions.

This report by Ember advocates for the implementation of transparent grid hosting capacity maps to accelerate the energy transition in Europe. It outlines how such maps can reduce grid connection queues and optimize network use, discusses new EU legislative requirements for TSOs and DSOs, and proposes a framework for an "ideal" map including substation-level granularity and open-source data access.

RMI conducted a pre-feasibility analysis in 2023 for a high-capacity coal plant in Indonesia to evaluate retirement and repurposing options. The study found that replacing the plant with solar and storage is the preferred solution, potentially avoiding tens of millions of tons of carbon emissions and generating tens of millions of dollars in free cash flow for equity investors, provided there is adequate land and cheap financing.