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The Ouarzazate I project is a 160MW CSP plant costing USD 1.3 billion, utilizing a public-private partnership (PPP) to bridge the competitiveness gap between CSP and cheaper carbon-intensive energy. The project's viability relies on five key building blocks: strong public support via the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), approximately USD 1 billion in concessional financing from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) which reduced levelized costs by 25-30%, coordinated donor engagement, a risk allocation framework where the private developer bears construction/operational risk while the Government of Morocco bears revenue risk, and the application of lessons from previous CSP projects. While successful in its startup phase, the authors argue that long-term scalability in the MENA region will require further reductions in technology costs, the phasing out of fossil-fuel subsidies, and the establishment of renewable power exports to European markets through bilateral agreements and physical interconnector investments.

This document is a Vietnamese translation of excerpts from the 'Boom & Burst Coal 2024' report by Global Energy Monitor and its partners. It analyzes global coal power trends in 2023, highlighting a dichotomy where new construction has hit a 9-year low outside China but an 8-year high within China. The report provides a detailed assessment of Vietnam's energy transition, focusing on the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), while noting that global coal capacity reached an all-time high in 2023.

The City of Cape Town (CCT) is developing a permanent 70 Mℓ/day seawater desalination plant at Paarden Eiland to enhance water supply resilience. Currently in the feasibility design phase, the project is part of the New Water Programme (NWP), which aims to add 300 million litres of water per day from diversified sources. The plant will utilize a multi-barrier process including reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation. Procurement opportunities for technologies, construction, and consumables are expected to reach the market in 2027, with the project estimated to create 30 direct jobs and 100-150 indirect construction jobs.

While the MENA region has low direct exposure to US tariffs, it faces significant indirect risks including energy price volatility, trade diversion (specifically 'dumping' of Chinese steel and aluminium), and inflationary pressures. Certain countries are more exposed than others, with Jordan facing risks to its garment exports, while Türkiye may gain competitiveness in textiles. The region's long-standing policy of non-alignment between the US and China is under pressure as trade is increasingly weaponized, though the Gulf's strategic geography and investments in digital infrastructure offer paths toward resilience.

The study analyzes 285 conflict episodes to determine how natural resources affect the duration of postconflict peace. It identifies three primary mechanisms: distribution, financing, and aggravation. The findings indicate that while natural resource conflicts generally show shorter peace periods bivariately, only conflicts driven by disagreements over the distribution of resources and revenues significantly increase the risk of recurrence in a multivariate analysis. This suggests that resource-related grievances are a more persistent driver of conflict relapse than the mere opportunity to finance warfare.

The research examines nine donor-supported active citizenship programs implemented between 2010 and 2015 in Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, and Tunisia. The authors argue that these programs, primarily funded by the US and Europe, employ a 'neo-liberalization of citizenship' approach that emphasizes formal participation and technical skill-building over political dissent and social mobilization. Through interviews with approximately 250 activists, the study finds a significant gap between the normative, Western-inspired training modules and the actual political constraints in the MENA region, such as secretive decision-making, unreliable judicial systems, and the dominance of informal power networks. The paper concludes that these programs risk bolstering the legitimacy of non-democratic regimes by encouraging tokenistic engagement and disconnecting activists from their local communities.

The analysis of ninety-three intergovernmental initiatives reveals that while global participation appears broad, representation from the Global South is critically low in key sectors such as industry, transport, and buildings. The landscape is dominated by developed countries and the top ten emitters per sector, which limits Global South access to capacity-building and information sharing. While agriculture is the most inclusive sector, others like industry show severe gaps, with 73% of initiatives excluding Least Developed Countries (LDCs).