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This executive summary from Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) analyzes finance commitments for electricity and clean cooking access in 20 high-impact developing countries, comparing the 2015-16 period to 2013-14. While electrification finance increased, it remains insufficient to meet 2030 goals, and clean cooking finance has declined. The report highlights a significant geographical imbalance, with Sub-Saharan Africa falling behind and a heavy reliance on a few Asian countries for total finance flows.

The 2018 Energy Progress Report, a joint publication by five custodian agencies, evaluates global progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). It concludes that the world is not on track to achieve universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030, as current progress falls short across all four SDG7 targets: electricity access, clean cooking, energy efficiency, and the share of renewable energy.

This report maps the landscape of gender diversity and social inclusion within the sustainable energy and climate change sectors, analyzing data from 174 organizations and programs to identify systemic barriers and geographic distributions of initiatives.

This executive summary describes the role and impact of executive education (ExEd) within the financial sectors of sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies a growing demand for these non-degree graduate-level programmes to address the 'underdeveloped' nature of the continent's financial sector, while highlighting a need for more practical, less theoretical curricula and better alignment between education and employee compensation.

This research paper analyzes the involvement of private actors in 64 agricultural adaptation projects in sub-Saharan Africa funded by international climate funds and Rwanda's Green Fund between 2010 and 2016.

This report examines the potential of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), including public blockchains like Bitcoin and private distributed ledgers, to improve funds transfers and financial inclusion in emerging markets. It analyzes how these technologies can reduce remittance costs, streamline inter-institutional clearing and settlement, and enhance regulatory oversight for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.

This briefing by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) argues that the mining industry represents a significant, untapped opportunity for gigaton-scale carbon emissions reductions. It highlights that while mining is inherently energy-intensive, the transition to renewable energy is now economically viable due to falling costs of solar PV and wind, which can replace expensive diesel generation at remote sites and reduce reliance on fossil-fuel-dominated grids.

This policy brief examines the barriers to upscaling Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in sub-Saharan Africa and proposes policy interventions to enhance food security and climate resilience.

This fact sheet describes the Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) findings regarding energy access, highlighting the importance of complementary energy supply solutions and the financial challenges facing utilities in the developing world.

This fact sheet from Sustainable Energy for All outlines the global state of electricity access, highlighting the concentration of energy poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, the impact of GDP on electrification rates, and the financial requirements for achieving universal energy access by 2030.

This market scoping study by Nathan Associates for FSD Africa examines the agricultural equipment leasing landscape in eight sub-Saharan African countries. It identifies systemic market failures across supply, demand, support functions, and regulatory environments that hinder the growth of leasing as an alternative to traditional asset financing for farmers and SMEs.

This report analyzes the financing needs of enterprises providing decentralized electricity and clean cooking solutions (Tiers 1-3) in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, and Nigeria. It identifies a significant gap between current finance flows and the investment required to meet national energy access targets, highlighting systemic barriers such as high collateral requirements, currency volatility, and a lack of local currency debt.

This 2017 report by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) maps the global landscape of initiatives integrating gender equality, social inclusion, and women's empowerment within the sustainable energy and climate change sectors. Based on data from 174 organizations across 45 countries, the report identifies regional priorities, funding trends, and systemic barriers to achieving universal energy access.

This briefing from the Stockholm Environment Institute argues that sustainable development and the transition to a 'green economy' cannot be achieved without explicitly addressing gender equality and social equity, particularly within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It highlights how systemic gender-based barriers—ranging from legal discrimination to unequal access to finance—limit the potential of women as workers and entrepreneurs, thereby hindering overall economic and environmental sustainability.

This discussion brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the interactions between Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality). Based on a literature review of 27 peer-reviewed articles, the brief identifies how gender inequality contributes to food insecurity and argues that gender equality is a primary determinant of food security. It highlights the need for integrated policy-making and gender-differentiated data to ensure that efforts to end hunger do not leave women and girls behind.

This synthesis brief details the Stockholm Environment Institute's (SEI) efforts to support the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Key areas of focus include the need to phase down fossil fuel production, the creation of a transparent reporting framework, and the importance of equitable mitigation shares, noting that wealthy nations like the US and EU are currently falling short. The brief highlights specific case studies in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, and introduces tools such as LEAP and the NDC Explorer to help countries plan and track their climate goals.

This briefing note by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the impacts of large-scale private agricultural investments on local livelihoods, water resources, land tenure, and gender equality. It argues that while such investments can create employment and market opportunities, ill-designed contracts often lead to environmental degradation, water scarcity, and the marginalization of rural communities, particularly women. The document advocates for an integrated approach to planning, utilizing a 'social tenure model' and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure sustainability and inclusivity.

This research paper analyzes the Global Goal for Adaptation (GGA) under the Paris Agreement, focusing on the proposals of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) to achieve parity between mitigation and adaptation. It argues that while the Paris Agreement establishes the GGA, its operationalisation requires clearer guidelines on minimum information for adaptation communications (a-NDCs) to allow for the aggregation of data and the assessment of adequacy during the global stocktake. The paper highlights the significant domestic investments made by developing countries like Ethiopia and Uganda and calls for a hybrid approach—combining bottom-up national needs with top-down scientific benchmarks from the IPCC—to determine and provide adequate adaptation support.

This report by the African Center for Economic Transformation outlines a strategy to transform agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through the generation and diffusion of modern technology and improved management practices. The study identifies rice as a promising crop for a 'Green Revolution' in the region and suggests that technology transfer from advanced regions like South Africa and tropical Asia (specifically India) can help close yield gaps. The paper emphasizes that technological innovation must be coupled with improved agronomic management and marketing to be effective.

This executive summary by FSD Africa examines the 'cusp group' in sub-Saharan Africa—individuals earning $2-$5 per day who straddle formal and informal economies. The report analyzes credit market dynamics in South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana to provide recommendations for regulators and donors to foster healthy credit markets that enable upward mobility without leading to systemic overindebtedness.