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Landscape of Green Finance in India
The report details a comprehensive methodology for mapping green finance in India, focusing on mitigation activities across clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation. It defines a taxonomy for green finance, identifies diverse data sources—including government budgets, OECD reports, and PSU financial statements—and establishes accounting principles to prevent double counting. The methodology employs specific proxy calculations for sectors like electric vehicles and rooftop solar, while utilizing a standard 70:30 debt-to-equity gearing ratio where specific project data is unavailable.
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Document type: Report
Why Canadian Liquefied Natural Gas Is Not the Answer for the European Union’s Short-Term Energy Needs
The document examines the feasibility of using Canadian LNG to replace Russian gas in the EU, concluding that the 3-to-5-year timeline for building new Canadian facilities is incompatible with the EU's immediate needs and its medium-term goal of phasing out gas by 2025-2027.
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Document type: Policy brief
INSIGHTS INTO THE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MANUFACTURING VALUE CHAIN IN SOUTH AFRICA
The document outlines the current state of South Africa's solar PV market, noting that while the Integrated Resource Plan targets 10% solar PV generation by 2030, local manufacturing remains limited. It identifies specific opportunities across the value chain—from mineral extraction of chromium and manganese to the assembly of modules and inverters—and recommends policy certainty, concessional finance, and skills development to foster a domestic industry.
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Document type: Fact sheet
How to De-risk Low-carbon Investments
The document addresses the investment gap for climate-smart infrastructure in developing countries, where high perceived risks lead to high risk premiums and non-bankable projects. It defines de-risking as the reallocation or reduction of risk through policy measures (establishing rules and mandates) and financial measures (using public capital to bear risk). Three examples illustrate these mechanisms: the Green Climate Fund's anchor equity in Chile's Espejo de Tarapacá project, the Africa Energy Guarantee Facility's multi-layered insurance chain, and Climate Investor Two's tiered tranche structure. The guide concludes that while not applicable to all projects, strategic de-risking leverages small amounts of public capital to mobilize large-scale private investment.
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Document type: Guide
Renewable energy in North Africa
North Africa possesses significant solar and wind potential, with Egypt and Morocco emerging as the region's largest renewable energy markets. While Egypt's power sector is dominated by gas and Morocco's by coal, both are aggressively expanding their renewable capacities through policy shifts and international investment. Egypt has seen rapid solar growth, exemplified by the Benban solar farm, while Morocco has focused on onshore wind and concentrated solar power, aiming to become a global green hydrogen exporter by 2050.
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Document type: Briefing
Shocked into action
European governments are significantly increasing renewable energy targets and slashing planned fossil fuel electricity generation to reduce geopolitical dependence on Russian energy. Analysis shows that EU countries' planned 2030 renewable electricity share has risen from 55% to 63%, while planned fossil fuel generation has dropped by 31%. Major importers of Russian fuels, including Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, are leading these efforts through ambitious wind and solar expansions. The report also highlights the REPowerEU framework's role in coordinating these efforts and the need for further decarbonization in the heating, industry, and transport sectors.
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Document type: Report
CUTTING BILLS AND CREATING JOBS THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES OF THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION
The report examines the economic opportunities of transitioning to net-zero emissions by 2050 across several major economies. It argues that public investment can drive innovation and growth through signalling, crowding-in private capital, and reducing unit costs. While fossil fuel-exporting nations like the US, Canada, and Indonesia may face long-term GDP losses as global demand for hydrocarbons falls, the report finds that most subject economies—including the EU, UK, India, Japan, and South Africa—experience net gains in GDP and employment. The transition is predicted to significantly reduce household expenditure on fossil fuels, improve public health by reducing pollution, and enhance energy security, particularly for the EU in the context of reducing dependence on Russian gas.
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Document type: Report
Mapping India's Energy Policy 2022
The report finds a significant disparity in India's energy support, with fossil fuel subsidies remaining substantially higher than those for clean energy, reaching 9 times the amount in FY 2021. While overall fossil fuel subsidies decreased by 72% between 2014 and 2021, public finance institutions and state-owned utilities continue to prioritize fossil fuel projects over renewables. The study emphasizes the need to shift financial support toward clean energy technologies to meet the target of 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity by 2030.
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Document type: Report
BIGGER, CLEANER, SMARTER
The report argues that Canada's electricity systems must become "bigger, cleaner, and smarter" to serve as the backbone of a net zero economy by 2050. It identifies 'safe bets'—commercially available solutions like wind, solar, and energy efficiency—and 'wild cards'—emerging or high-barrier technologies like small modular reactors and carbon capture. The analysis emphasizes that while technical pathways exist, significant social, political, and institutional barriers, such as interregional grid integration and local opposition, must be overcome. It also highlights the unique challenges faced by remote communities and the necessity of Indigenous leadership in the energy transition.
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Document type: Report
Mapping India’s Energy Policy 2022
The report finds that India's energy budgeting remains heavily skewed toward fossil fuels, with subsidies for coal, oil, and gas being nine times larger than those for clean energy in FY 2021. While fossil fuel subsidies have fallen 72% since 2014, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and public finance institutions (PFIs) continue to provide substantial support to fossil projects, often lacking clear net-zero roadmaps. The analysis reveals a stark gap between revenue and social costs: conservative externalities for fossil fuels in FY 2020 (INR 1,441,464 crore) were more than double the revenues generated (INR 6,52,564 crore). The authors recommend phasing out fossil fuel support, diversifying PSU investments, and using strategic taxation to fund a just transition and clean energy infrastructure.
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Document type: Report
Natural Gas in Africa
The report contends that natural gas expansion in Africa contradicts the Paris Agreement and poses significant economic and environmental risks. It argues that renewable energy is more cost-effective and creates more sustainable employment than the fossil fuel industry. Through case studies of Egypt, Nigeria, and Senegal, the document demonstrates that shifting from gas-based power to high-renewable scenarios would increase job creation and, in the case of Egypt, significantly reduce premature deaths from air pollution. It concludes that developed nations must stop financing fossil fuels and increase climate finance to support Africa's transition to zero-emissions energy systems.
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Document type: Report
Meeting human needs within planetary boundaries – a provisioning systems perspective on clean transitions
The document introduces the 'provisioning systems' framework as a tool to analyze how human needs are met without exceeding planetary boundaries. It argues that simple policy tools like carbon pricing are insufficient because they ignore the systemic interdependencies between material stocks, techniques, and institutional elements (households, markets, the commons, and the state). Through examples of cellphone charging and mobility (road vs. air transport), the authors demonstrate how different techno-economic paradigms create different barriers to decarbonization. The paper concludes that transformative change requires multi-scalar, reflexive governance and policy portfolios that address systemic lock-ins and ensure a just transition for both producers and consumers.
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Document type: Research paper
Direct Air Capture: Assessing Impacts to Enable Responsible Scaling
The document analyzes the resource requirements and potential externalities of direct air capture (DAC) at both a single-plant (1 MtCO2/year) and a system-wide (0.5 GtCO2/year) scale. It finds that while on-site emissions are low, significant impacts arise from energy demand, land use, and the materials supply chain. The authors argue that responsible scaling requires project-specific social and environmental impact assessments, robust community engagement, and the use of legal agreements like Community Benefits Agreements to ensure equitable distribution of benefits, such as job creation.
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Document type: Research paper
Consideration of funding proposals - Addendum II Funding proposal package for FP185
The 'Climate Change: The New Evolutionary Challenge for the Galapagos' programme seeks USD 65.27 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to implement a comprehensive transition to a low-carbon economy in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands. The initiative focuses on three main components: changing the energy matrix through a centralized 14.8 MWp solar plant (Conolophus project) and distributed renewable energy; building climate resilience in food systems and ecosystems (including coral reef and Scalesia forest restoration); and establishing sustainability mechanisms such as ecotourism certification and climate-responsive planning. The programme targets 33,000 residents and over 100,000 annual tourists, aiming to reduce 584,169 tCO2eq over 25 years and enhance resilience across 19,000 hectares of agricultural land and 138,000 km2 of marine ecosystems.
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Document type: Report
Ten Climate Fixes to Catch Up in the Race to Cut Emissions
RMI advocates for a comprehensive transformation of the global economy across ten key fronts to meet the 1.5C climate target. These priorities include increasing political ambition, decarbonizing buildings and transportation, phasing out coal and gas, scaling green hydrogen, and enhancing emissions transparency. The organization emphasizes the need for a three- to six-fold increase in zero-carbon capital investments and the integration of mitigation and adaptation efforts, particularly in the Global South, to ensure an equitable transition.
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Document type: Statement
IPCC's upcoming 6th assessment report mitigation of climate change
The briefing highlights that global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, making the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5°C and 2°C increasingly difficult to achieve without significant 'overshoot'. It notes a critical gap in climate finance, where current levels are roughly ten times lower than the estimated USD 6.3 trillion needed annually by 2030. While net-zero commitments and renewable energy deployment have grown substantially, the document warns against an over-reliance on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and emphasizes the need for rapid transformations in energy, agriculture, and urban planning.
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Document type: Briefing
Initiating a fair and inclusive energy transition in Indonesia
The analysis examines the replacement of 3.4GW of coal capacity at Suralaya with solar PV, noting that while a four-year replacement is possible, a lack of concerted effort could cause delays of 7-10 years. The document emphasizes that the scale of benefits depends on the speed of implementation and requires coordinated action from the government, PLN, and banks, alongside international support aligned with domestic efforts.
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Document type: Research paper
South African Renewable Energy Masterplan
The South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) outlines a framework to localise the wind, solar PV, and battery energy storage value chains. It argues that localising 70% of components and 90% of Balance of Plant (BoP) and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) could create 36,500 direct jobs and contribute R420 billion to GDP by 2030. The plan emphasizes the need for market certainty through consistent public procurement and the transition to a points-based local content scoring system to incentivize high-value manufacturing over simple CAPEX spend. It specifically targets 'Just Transition hotspots' like Mpumalanga to pivot coal-sector workers into the green economy.
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Document type: Report
Understanding the Clean Energy Transition with Community-Driven Decentralised Renewable Energy projects in Germany and Sub-Saharan Africa
The report examines community-driven decentralised renewable energy (DRE) projects in Germany and Sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that local participation is essential for a successful clean energy transition. It identifies six key benefits of this approach, including energy security, local green job creation, and productive uses of renewable energy (PURE). The document details 12 case studies—three in Germany and nine in Africa—highlighting a variety of technologies such as solar PV mini-grids, micro-hydropower, and solar-powered desalination. It categorises barriers into social, financial, and technical pillars and provides targeted recommendations for public and private stakeholders to scale these models, emphasizing the need for gender-inclusive approaches and innovative financing.
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Document type: Report
CASE STUDY Designing a Neighborhood Microgrid
The Union of Concerned Scientists used the HOMER Grid model to analyze microgrid configurations for Parker Village, a planned eight-acre development in Highland Park, Michigan. The analysis focused on a grid-separated (islanded) system powered by solar photovoltaic panels and battery storage to maximize community independence. Findings indicate that while a grid-separated microgrid is feasible, it requires significant solar and battery capacity and necessitates fossil fuel backup (natural gas or diesel) to meet winter peak demand. Alternatively, a grid-connected backup option reduces initial investment costs and battery requirements but maintains a dependency on the utility for approximately 2% of annual power demand. The study emphasizes that increasing building energy efficiency could reduce the necessary scale of energy resources and minimize reliance on fossil fuel backups.
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Document type: Case study