Search Climate Insights Directory

This briefing describes a study by the Climate Policy Initiative, PUC-Rio, and Fundação Getulio Vargas on the impact of flex-fuel vehicles on the retail fuel market in Brazil. It highlights how the adoption of flex-cars, which can run on any mix of gasoline or ethanol, has reduced fuel prices for both flex-car owners and those driving gasoline-only vehicles, supporting Brazil's goals to increase sustainable biofuel consumption under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

This research paper by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) proposes a risk-based framework for selecting ownership models and finance instruments for clean power investments. The authors argue that minimizing the overall cost of the low-carbon energy transition requires allocating specific investment risks—such as construction, price, and curtailment—to the party (private investors, public entities, or consumers) best placed to manage, understand, and bear them.

This document provides the technical annexes for the Renewable Energy Scale-Up Facility (RESF), detailing the financial modeling, assumptions, and expected impacts of a proposed USD 100 million equity fund designed to scale up wind and solar projects in developing regions, particularly Latin America.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and PUC-Rio analyzes the Environmental Reserve Quote (Cota de Reserva Ambiental - CRA) as a mechanism for compensating Legal Reserve deficits in rural properties under Brazil's Forest Code (Law 12.651/2012). The document evaluates the CRA against other compensation alternatives, identifies institutional and legal barriers to its implementation, and provides recommendations for federal regulation to ensure market security and lower transaction costs.

This briefing by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and the NACP/PUC-Rio analyzes data from the TerraClass database regarding the increase of secondary vegetation (regeneration) in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2014. It highlights that while regeneration has grown significantly, current Brazilian deforestation monitoring systems are unable to detect it, creating a gap in public policy and climate goal tracking.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes new data from the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE) showing a significant increase in tropical secondary vegetation in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2014. The document highlights a gap in Brazil's satellite monitoring systems, which track primary deforestation but overlook regeneration, and outlines priorities for future policy analysis to integrate this phenomenon into carbon reduction goals and forest restoration requirements.

This report summarizes the Sixth Annual Meeting of the San Giorgio Group, held on 8-9 May 2017 in Venice. The discussions focused on scaling up green, low-emissions finance by improving climate finance tracking, evolving financial architecture in emerging markets, overcoming funding constraints for cities, utilizing innovative financial instruments, and enhancing climate risk disclosure to accelerate the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

This report analyzes the economic viability and technical requirements for the 100% decarbonization of Indian Railways' (IR) traction electricity demand, focusing on a case study in Madhya Pradesh. It concludes that a mixed wind and solar energy strategy is the most cost-effective approach, projecting that decarbonization will be 26-28% cheaper than business-as-usual by 2030.

This briefing by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) synthesizes lessons from 2015 and 2016 reports on public finance interventions designed to increase low-carbon and climate-resilient investment in developing countries. It outlines strategies for reducing risks and costs to attract private capital through fiscal policy adjustments, government-backed assurances, and public-private innovation labs.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the historical evolution, current structure, and systemic challenges of rural property rights in Brazil. It highlights how a legacy of disordered land occupation and a fragmented institutional framework have led to widespread land insecurity, social conflict, and environmental degradation. The document provides a detailed mapping of land categories, evaluates current government regularization programs, and offers policy recommendations to improve governance, law enforcement, and the integration of land registries.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative analyzes the historical evolution and current state of rural land rights in Brazil. It identifies systemic insecurities caused by complex legislation, fragmented governance, and a lack of unified land registries, which contribute to land conflicts, deforestation, and inefficient land use. The document provides a framework for improvement focusing on governance, enforcement, regulation, and knowledge, while evaluating specific initiatives like the Terra Legal Program and the SIG-Fundiário system.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) argues that increasing agricultural productivity in Brazil is a viable strategy for mitigating climate change and reducing deforestation. By analyzing four historical drivers of productivity, the document demonstrates that technological innovation and policy improvements can shift agricultural expansion away from forests and toward underutilized pasture lands.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) argues that Brazil can increase agricultural production without increasing deforestation by improving the productivity of already cleared lands, particularly by transitioning underused cattle pastures to crop production.

This executive summary outlines a report on the productivity of energy interventions by International Financial Institutions (IFIs). It finds that while energy efficiency and renewable projects offer broad benefits, energy efficiency represented only 14% of IFI energy portfolios from 2012 to 2014, and 80% of total interventions were non-energy related. The report introduces an "assessment of integrated energy productivity impact" to help IFIs align their lending with the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, suggesting a common framework to better direct resources toward low-emission economic growth.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative analyzes the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of decarbonizing Indian Railways (IR) by 2030. It evaluates various pathways for the traction and non-traction segments, concluding that transitioning to renewable energy—specifically through captive generation at an accelerated rate—is significantly cheaper than a business-as-usual scenario. The report emphasizes the necessity of full electrification and identifies regulatory barriers regarding state-level net metering and open access policies.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and NAPC/PUC-Rio analyzes the obstacles preventing the effective conversion of environmental fines into environmental services in Brazil. It identifies a regulatory vacuum at the federal level and legal contradictions in the Forest Code that hinder the implementation of this instrument, and proposes recommendations for new federal regulations to increase the effectiveness of environmental recovery.

This study analyzes public finance for sustainable land use in Côte d’Ivoire in 2015 to support the National REDD+ Strategy. It warns that the country could lose all forest cover by 2034 and suggests that greening agricultural finance could increase REDD+ aligned funding to FCFA 101 billion (USD 169 million).

This guide by the Climate Policy Initiative provides strategic advice for cities in developing countries to access green bond markets to fund low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure. It highlights the significant gap in capital market access for these cities and outlines both direct and indirect pathways to secure financing based on a city's creditworthiness.

This executive summary describes a study by the Núcleo de Avaliação de Políticas Climáticas (NAPC/CPI) and the INPUT project regarding the impact of rural settlements on deforestation in the Amazon. The research concludes that rural settlements were responsible for 30% of deforestation in the Amazon region in 2014, with a significant portion attributed to settlements designed for sustainable production.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the financing requirements for India to reach its target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. It identifies a significant gap between expected and required investment, particularly in equity, and evaluates how domestic and foreign institutional investors can bridge this gap through specific financial instruments and policy reforms.