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The Mekong floodplains, covering approximately 70,000 km2 and including Cambodia's Tonle Sap, are experiencing environmental deterioration driven by rapid economic growth and climate change. While hydropower dams are a significant concern for biodiversity and livelihoods, the document argues that focusing solely on dams overlooks other local threats affecting water resources, vegetation, and fish.

The study evaluates the resilience of the Eastern African Power Pool's electricity infrastructure against climate-induced water availability variations, finding that planning for a slightly wetter climate than historical trends provides the most resilient strategy. It highlights that failing to climate-proof investments can lead to significant electricity price fluctuations in countries like Uganda and Tanzania, whereas Egypt is less vulnerable.

The document examines gender imbalances in the energy sector of the Lower Mekong Region, noting that women are under-represented in technical roles and often excluded from energy decision-making. It highlights how gender norms, limited access to education, and siloed policy environments hinder women's participation in the transition to renewable energy. The briefing recommends promoting equal workforce opportunities, exploring community energy models, and developing gender-responsive national policies to ensure a just transition.

The document examines the gendered dimensions of water insecurity in the Lower Mekong Region, noting that women bear heavier caring burdens and are largely excluded from water governance, which remains a masculine technical domain. It highlights a disconnect between national gender policies and water policies, and argues that current gender mainstreaming is often tokenistic. The brief recommends involving women leaders in decision-making, integrating gender into water governance curricula, and creating partnerships between water and gender-mandated institutions.

The report highlights the critical need for green infrastructure investment in Vietnam, estimating a requirement of USD31bn by 2020 to align with NDC commitments. It identifies key opportunities across renewable energy, low carbon transport, sustainable water management, and sustainable waste management, while analyzing the current state of green finance in the country. The document argues that while public funding has dominated, there is a significant opportunity to attract private capital through green bonds, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and the support of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). It provides a sample pipeline of 40 projects and recommends policy changes, such as issuing a green sovereign bond and improving the visibility of green assets, to accelerate the transition.

The report finds that while electricity finance in 20 high-impact countries reached a record USD 36 billion in 2017, it remains far below the USD 51 billion annual requirement for universal household access. Clean cooking finance saw a critical decline, dropping 73 percent in 2017 compared to the 2015-16 period. The analysis highlights a systemic failure to direct funds toward the most vulnerable, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and emphasizes the need for innovative financing mechanisms like results-based financing and pay-per-service models to bridge the gap.

The world is making progress toward SDG 7 but is not on track to meet 2030 targets at current ambition levels. While electricity access has expanded significantly, particularly in India, Bangladesh, and Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa still faces a massive deficit. Clean cooking access is lagging due to population growth, and while renewable energy and energy efficiency are improving, they remain below the required rates to meet 2030 goals. Achieving these targets will require a substantial increase in annual investments across all three areas.

The 2019 Lower Kafue River Basin Report Card assigns an overall health grade of 'C' (moderate) to the basin, indicating that while some indicators meet objectives, others do not. The assessment, developed by WARMA and WWF, highlights critical failures in human health and nutrition—specifically disease burden and sanitation—and declines in keystone species like the Kafue Lechwe. While economic indicators and water quantity generally performed better, the report identifies urgent needs for improved water quality data, climate-smart agriculture to combat malnutrition, and a comprehensive review of environmental flow releases from the Itezhi-tezhi and Kafue Gorge dams.

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.

The Chongqing Three Gorges Bank issued a CNY 3 billion (USD 436.9 million) green bond on 27 December 2018 with a three-year tenor. The proceeds are designated for energy saving, pollution prevention, resource conservation and recycling, clean energy, and ecological protection and adaptation. The Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) included the bond in its database because hydropower accounts for only 3% of total proceeds and other allocations align with the PBoC catalogue and CBI taxonomy, though the bond may be excluded if future reporting shows the actual use of proceeds fails to meet CBI definitions.

The report examines the interlinkages between water, energy, and food security in Rwanda's Akagera Basin to support climate-resilient development. It highlights how national goals to intensify agriculture and increase energy output, combined with population growth, create competition for limited water and biomass resources. To address these challenges, the report utilizes a 'nexus toolkit' to conduct policy coherence analysis, national-level quantitative scenario modeling, and district-level visioning exercises.

The report analyzes Indonesia's public finance levers for clean energy, finding that while IDR 12.4 trillion was provided between 2012 and 2016, this is insufficient to meet the 2025 target of 23% renewable energy in the primary energy mix. It identifies key barriers to private investment, including high financing costs and a lack of long-term debt, and argues that capital injections into local development financial institutions (DFIs) like SMI and the use of guarantees are more effective at leveraging private capital than direct budget appropriations. The report recommends adjusting tariff structures to ensure project viability and expanding the role of DFIs to bridge financing gaps.

The document examines the water-energy-food nexus in Rwanda, highlighting that high population growth and climate change create severe pressure on land, water, and biomass. Scenario modelling indicates that even under optimistic conditions, fuel wood demand will exceed supply, and aggressive irrigation targets could exceed water availability by three times. The authors argue that current sectoral disconnects threaten ecosystem preservation and recommend coordinated central planning and multi-stakeholder dialogue to avoid negative externalities.

The report applies a 'nexus toolkit' to analyze the interactions between agricultural transformation, energy transition, and natural resource use in Rwanda, specifically within the Akagera Basin. Using policy coherence mapping and scenario modelling (Reference, Pessimistic, and Optimistic) up to 2050, the study finds that high population growth and climate change create severe pressure on water and biomass. Key findings indicate that ambitious national plans for irrigation and hydropower may be physically impossible to meet due to water scarcity, and that the transition to peat for electricity will increase GHG emissions despite reductions in cooking-fuel emissions. At the district level, the report identifies critical needs for improved water management, off-grid energy solutions, and a shift away from urban charcoal demand to combat deforestation.

In Q3 2018, China's green bond market saw $8.5 billion in issuances, with financial institutions accounting for 51% of the total. While total issuance for the first three quarters of 2018 ($21.5 billion) exceeded the same period in 2017, only 49% of Q3 issuances aligned with international green bond definitions. Renewable energy remained the largest investment area, while water-related projects saw an increase in funding share to 18%. The report also details updated Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) classification criteria for underground utility tunnels and hydropower projects to better align with the People's Bank of China's guidelines.

The report analyzes China's green bond market in Q3 2018, noting a total issuance of USD 8.5bn. It highlights that while total issuance for the first three quarters of 2018 (USD 21.5bn) exceeded the same period in 2017, only 49% of Q3 volumes aligned with international definitions. Financial corporates dominated issuance, and renewable energy remained the largest sector for proceeds. The document also details new regulatory guidelines from the PBoC, SSE, and CSRC, and updates to the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) taxonomy regarding utility tunnels and hydropower.

The report investigates the potential for Zambia to transition from fossil fuel subsidies to sustainable energy investments. It identifies that while petroleum subsidies were largely eliminated in 2016, significant subsidies remain in the electricity sector, particularly for the mining industry. The authors propose two 'subsidy swaps': redirecting electricity subsidies to fund energy efficiency in mining and replacing expensive diesel generators with solar PV. The report concludes that both are feasible, with solar PV already progressing through initiatives like Scaling Solar and GET FiT, while the mining sector swap requires further research into energy savings potential and fund administration.

The document highlights how climate change threatens energy infrastructure through extreme weather and shifting environmental conditions, which can jeopardize the financial viability of projects. It advocates for a resilience-based approach—focusing on robustness, resourcefulness, and recovery—and suggests a combination of technological, green, behavioural, and financial strategies to safeguard energy systems and support NDC mitigation goals.

The project aims to reduce climate-related disaster risks in Nepal's West Seti sub-river basin by implementing integrated sub-watershed adaptation and management plans (SWAMPs) and enhancing the resilience of large-scale infrastructure. It seeks USD 25 million from the Green Climate Fund to benefit approximately 494,116 people, with a total project cost of USD 40 million. Key activities include forest restoration, the installation of solar micro-grids and improved cook stoves, and the establishment of a performance-based climate resilience grants system for local governments.

Suez has committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 from a 2014 baseline, a target approved by the Science Based Target initiative. The company focuses on transitioning customers to a "use-and-recover approach" through circular economy practices, such as diverting waste from landfills to reduce methane and converting wastewater treatment plants into carbon-neutral "bio-factories." To manage financial risk and guide technology choices, Suez employs an internal carbon price based on the EU ETS and IEA scenarios. By 2017, the company reported a 5.69% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2014 and supported nearly 200,000 jobs worldwide through its activities and supply chain.