Search Climate Insights Directory

This report examines the financing gap for municipal energy transitions in South Africa, noting that municipalities receive less than 10% of climate finance despite their critical role in the just energy transition (JET). It identifies structural, institutional, and fiscal barriers and proposes four priority reform areas to improve local access to funding.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the financial and institutional barriers preventing South African municipalities from accessing climate finance to support the just energy transition (JET). It highlights a significant gap where less than 10% of tracked climate finance reaches local governments, despite their critical role in electricity distribution and community resilience. The document analyzes current funding models, the impact of national policy frameworks, and provides recommendations to improve municipal creditworthiness and project bankability.

This policy brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the role of municipalities and regional governments in strengthening carbon sinks within the context of EU LULUCF regulations, specifically highlighting the challenges and opportunities in forested nations.

This fact sheet by the Stockholm Environment Institute provides an overview of urban sustainability metrics, comparing index-based and indicator-based systems and proposing a cyclical pathway for municipal governments to measure and monitor sustainability performance.

This briefing paper by WWF South Africa examines the challenges South African municipalities face as residential rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) installations disrupt traditional electricity distribution and revenue models. It highlights the tension between the financial interests of municipalities, which rely on electricity sales to cross-subsidise low-income households, and the economic incentives for affluent homeowners to install PV systems, often without registration. The document proposes the use of strategic tariff design and a new computerised decision-making tool to help municipalities manage the technical, social, and financial complexities of the energy transition.

This policy brief defines transformational adaptation as a systemic approach to climate resilience that addresses root causes of vulnerability, contrasting it with incremental adaptation which improves existing practices.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing the Highveld Environmental Justice Network (HEJN), groundWork (gW), and Earthlife Africa (ELA), submitted preliminary comments on the draft Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) and draft Air Quality Management By-laws for the Nkangala District Municipality (NDM). The CER argues that the NDM has delayed its legal obligations under the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004, and has failed to provide stakeholders with adequate time or technical support to meaningfully participate in the drafting process.

This case study examines the implementation of the "Huellas de Carbono e Hídrica en tres ciudades andinas: La Paz, Quito, Lima" project in La Paz, Bolivia. It details the first-ever measurement of the city's carbon and water footprints for the base year 2012, the identification of critical emission and consumption points, and the subsequent integration of reduction measures into municipal policy and budgeting.

This case study examines the process of decentralization in Nicaragua, focusing on the transfer of natural resource management responsibilities to municipal governments. It highlights a significant gap between legal attributions and the actual transfer of power and funding from the central government, noting that while grassroots support for local autonomy is high, municipal capacity remains low and central control over revenue-generating resources persists.