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This research paper analyzes the USD 18-36 trillion climate investment gap in developing countries and identifies key barriers to scaling finance, such as access to capital and investor skill gaps. It evaluates the roles of various public finance actors—including MDBs, bilateral DFIs, and National Development Banks—highlighting that while NDBs provide the largest flows, they often lack risk mitigation tools. The authors recommend that public actors adopt more flexible capital strategies, harmonize standards, and shift from project-specific finance to broader financial system development to better leverage private investment.

This FSD Africa briefing highlights the persistent gender gap in financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa and presents Savings Groups as a successful strategy for empowerment. These member-owned groups provide low-income women with access to savings, credit, and insurance, serving as a pathway to formal financial services. The FSD Network has invested over $28 million since 2008 to expand these groups across several African nations and is partnering with the SEEP Network to generate evidence on their impact on women's empowerment.

This March 2018 report from the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC), focusing on its struggles to implement counter-terrorism frameworks, funding crises facing the AMISOM mission in Somalia, constitutional disputes in Burundi, and structural instability in the CEMAC region of Central Africa.

The Cooling for All Policy Review, published by Sustainable Energy for All in March 2018, examines the global landscape of cooling policies, focusing on Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for air conditioners and refrigerators, building efficiency codes, urban heat island mitigation, and cold chain infrastructure.

This research paper analyzes the challenges facing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), contrasting it with the more established Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). It examines the political obstacles to the GCM, the unequal dynamics of migration negotiations between the African Union and the European Union, and the limitations of the GCM's February 2018 zero draft, which the author argues lacks binding accountability mechanisms.

This fact sheet by the Climate Bonds Initiative outlines key public sector green bond policy developments in 2017 and projections for 2018. It highlights the rise of sovereign green bonds, the establishment of regional and national guidelines in Asia and Africa, the growth of the green sukuk market in Malaysia, and various financial incentives provided by governments to lower issuance costs and accelerate the transition to low-carbon infrastructure.

This report assesses progress toward Goal 4 of the New York Declaration on Forests, which focuses on supporting alternatives to deforestation driven by basic needs, such as subsistence farming and fuelwood collection. The document highlights a significant lack of aggregate global data to measure progress, relying instead on proxy indicators like the distribution of clean cookstoves and related financial funding.

This report details a civil society training workshop held on April 17-18, 2018, in Windhoek, Namibia. The event, part of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Sensitisation Project in Namibia (ASPIN), aimed to engage civil society in the Namibian APRM process. Organized by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the workshop provided guidance on the APRM's structure, the importance of early civil society submissions, and lessons from other African nations.

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 Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) report provides a global inventory of policies and regulations supporting Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), focusing on electricity access, clean cooking, energy efficiency, and renewable energy across 133 economies from 2010 to 2017.

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 policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) evaluates the effectiveness of public investments in agriculture to improve food security, specifically focusing on farm support and rural development in low- and lower-middle-income countries in Africa and Asia.

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 policy brief analyzes the evolving migration relations between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) leading up to the November 2017 AU-EU Summit in Abidjan. It highlights a fundamental mismatch in priorities: the EU focuses on stemming irregular migration and border control, while African nations prioritize development, employment, and the management of remittances. The author critiques the EU's use of aid conditionality through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) and notes the lack of a unified African position on migration, which weakens the continent's leverage in bilateral and international negotiations.

This working paper by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) provides lessons on leveraging private sector finance for climate compatible development based on projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It emphasizes the need for country-specific approaches, strong public sector leadership, and the use of innovative financial instruments to bridge the gap between commercial interests and climate goals.

This research paper examines the 'use of country systems' (UCS) approach by multilateral development banks (MDBs) in Africa, analyzing the benefits of utilizing domestic processes over external conditionalities and the challenges that hinder its implementation.

Remarks by Manish Bapna, WRI Executive Vice President and Managing Director, delivered on September 18, 2021, at the UN General Assembly in New York City upon concluding his term as co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

This research paper outlines a strategy for the United Kingdom to align its post-Brexit trade policy with climate and development goals. It identifies a potential global market of £1.0–1.8 trillion for low-carbon goods and services by 2030 and highlights UK strengths in offshore wind, green finance, and insurance. The authors propose a 'Trade and Climate Checklist' for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), focusing on 'triple wins' such as tariff elimination for environmental goods and increased market access for professional services, while cautioning against the use of contested carbon border adjustment mechanisms.

This research paper by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) identifies five critical success factors for increasing the climate resilience of water infrastructure. Based on a review of six projects across Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, the paper argues that resilience requires moving beyond engineering design to include strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and institutional capacity building to avoid 'stranded assets' and protect economic growth.

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.