Search Climate Insights Directory

The document examines the evolution of carbon pricing globally and regionally, with a deep dive into Southeast Asian markets. It analyzes the impact of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on regional exports and the progress of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Specific country updates detail Indonesia's operational ETS, the Philippines' legislative efforts toward a cap-and-invest system, and Viet Nam's pilot phase for a national compliance market.

The document details the global nickel market, highlighting Indonesia's dominance in production and the shifting demand from stainless steel toward electric vehicle batteries. It outlines the technical processing pathways for Class I and Class II nickel, the geopolitical impact of export bans, and the environmental footprints associated with different mining and refining methods.

The document outlines Australia's position as a major global mining hub, specifically highlighting its dominance in iron ore and its growing role in critical minerals like lithium. It details the sector's significant contribution to national GDP and government revenue, while noting the industry's heavy reliance on fossil fuels for energy. The report also examines the social dimensions of the workforce, including gender disparities, and the regulatory environment, particularly in Western Australia.

The document outlines a five-step process for governments to develop fossil fuel subsidy inventories, emphasizing a whole-of-government approach and the use of international definitions. It highlights that global spending on fossil fuel subsidies exceeds USD 1 trillion annually, which strains budgets and hinders the transition to cleaner energy. The guide is specifically designed to support the 17 member countries of the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS) in meeting their commitment to publish subsidy inventories.

The report identifies induction stoves as the most practical alternative to LPG in Indonesia, noting that they are cheaper than unsubsidized LPG for both households and the government. It highlights that current universal LPG subsidies are the primary barrier to adoption and proposes a reform where subsidies for well-off households are replaced by induction subsidies, potentially saving the government IDR 7–12 trillion annually. Recommendations include lowering voltage upgrade costs, implementing one-off connection subsidies for stoves and cookware, and targeting LPG subsidies specifically to low-income households.

The report finds that while India has achieved a non-fossil electricity capacity share exceeding 50% in 2025, public finances remain heavily tied to fossil fuels. In FY 2024, fossil fuel revenues contributed nearly INR 9 lakh crore (USD 108 billion) to the exchequer, and 83% of central state-owned enterprise capital expenditures were directed toward fossils. Although clean energy subsidies grew by 31% year-on-year in FY 2024 and fossil fuel subsidies declined by 12%, the latter was attributed to cyclical price movements rather than structural policy. The study recommends improving the targeting of electricity subsidies, redirecting state-owned enterprise capital toward clean-tech, and diversifying government revenue through carbon pricing and green taxes.

The City of Cape Town utilized integrated cost-benefit analyses provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to reverse funding cuts for its Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Programme. By quantifying the economic value of nature-based infrastructure (NBI) through avoided costs and co-benefits, the city demonstrated that investments in the Diep/Sand and Zeekoe catchments would generate significant net gains and save up to ZAR 55 million on dredging and canal refurbishment. Consequently, the city approved nearly ZAR 200 million for LUW projects, including wetland creation and canal naturalization, and plans to apply this economic modeling to future investments exceeding ZAR 1 billion.

The document examines the rapid growth of Indonesia's nickel sector driven by global demand for clean energy technologies, noting that this expansion has caused high carbon emissions, workplace accidents, and social conflicts. It identifies gaps in Indonesia's regulatory framework regarding biodiversity, human rights, and sustainability reporting when compared to international standards. To address these, the brief recommends mandating ecosystem assessments, human rights due diligence, decarbonization plans, and improved benefit-sharing mechanisms for local communities.

The paper explores the bidirectional relationship between agriculture and industrial policy. It highlights how agriculture's long experience with subsidies and market distortions can inform current green industrial strategies, while detailing how the transition to a bioeconomy and green energy affects agricultural inputs and land use. The author emphasizes the need for 'sustainable productivity' metrics and warns of fiscal asymmetries between high-income and low-income countries during this transition.

The authors contend that for Africa to overcome extreme poverty, it must pursue sustainable industrialization through a modernized approach to policy-making. Rather than seeking a 'golden policy template,' the document proposes a framework based on five tenets: adaptive, consultative, partner-based, transboundary, and capacitated policy-making. This approach is designed to address 'the big five' contemporary challenges: policy consensus, green industrialization, supply chain security, shifting industrial paradigms (such as digitalization), and the expansion of policy space. The authors emphasize that building institutional capacity and utilizing 'policy-testing' zones like Special Economic Zones are essential for navigating the complexities of the current global geoeconomic and climate landscape.

The report evaluates the viability of firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) in India, finding that its competitiveness against coal depends on the ability to sell surplus power and the inclusion of external costs like pollution. It highlights that FDRE can be deployed significantly faster than coal plants and provides net economic gains, including GDP growth and job creation, while reducing emissions.

Nepal's textiles and clothing sector, particularly readymade garments and hand-knotted woollen carpets, remains a key export earner despite structural constraints and a decline in manufacturing's share of GDP. While the sector leverages unique craftsmanship and LDC-based preferential market access, it faces high logistics costs, skilled labour shortages, and a 25% higher unit cost compared to competitors like Bangladesh and India. LDC graduation threatens this competitiveness through potential tariff increases and stricter rules of origin. The authors argue that the government should move away from ineffective ad-valorem subsidies and poorly located special economic zones, instead focusing on market intelligence, inter-agency coordination, and productivity improvements to adapt to a changing global trade landscape.

The paper contends that traditional industrial policy is overly focused on manufacturing and must be expanded to include services, which now account for roughly two-thirds of global GDP. It identifies five pillars for a services-led industrial policy: infrastructure, investment/FDI, skills and human capital, regulatory quality, and connectivity. The author highlights that services offer developing economies advantages in terms of lower capital intensity, smaller minimum scale, and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the document notes that the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provides governments with more policy space for experimentation than the rules governing manufacturing trade.

Using Kenya as a primary case study, the authors examine how the shift from traditional manufacturing-based industrial policy to a platform-based digital economy risks creating a new form of 'informational dependency'. While Kenya has successfully integrated into global digital services, the authors find that value capture remains limited because data and algorithmic control reside with foreign platforms. The paper advocates for a holistic industrial policy that integrates data governance, decent work standards, and regional cooperation to ensure digital transformation leads to inclusive development rather than extractive accumulation.

This research paper by Steven Haig of the International Institute for Sustainable Development argues that expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in Canada will increase domestic and global emissions, hinder the transition to renewable energy, and divert public funds from climate solutions.

The research paper examines how the 1989 Belgium-Luxembourg (BLEU)–USSR bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is being used as a legal threat to prevent Belgium from supporting an EU plan to back a EUR 140 billion Ukraine loan with immobilized Russian Central Bank assets. It highlights a broader trend of 'regulatory chill' where Russian entities use investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims to challenge sanctions. The author argues for the modernization of investment treaties and the implementation of domestic legal blocks to prevent the enforcement of arbitration awards that contradict international sanctions regimes.

The report examines the impacts of coal phase-outs in East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, and Jambi, emphasizing the need for proactive investment in high-multiplier industries and green sectors to prevent economic shocks. It advocates for a combination of quantitative modelling and qualitative community research to design social protections and reskilling programs that specifically include women, youth, and informal workers.

The document assesses the ESG landscape of Indonesia's nickel industry, which is critical to the global energy transition. While Indonesia has seen massive economic growth from nickel downstreaming, it faces significant challenges including high carbon intensity, workplace fatalities, and rising agrarian disputes. The brief maps Indonesian regulations against international standards (such as IRMA and ICMM), identifying gaps in human rights due diligence, anti-corruption mandates, and sustainability reporting. It recommends strengthening biodiversity monitoring, mandating free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), and establishing climate governance systems to align with global best practices.

The report argues that induction stoves are the most viable clean cooking solution for on-grid Indonesian households, offering cost savings and alignment with decarbonization goals compared to dimethyl ether (DME) or piped natural gas. It highlights that current universal LPG subsidies discourage adoption and recommends a targeted subsidy reform where savings from well-off households are reallocated to fund induction infrastructure. The document also emphasizes the need for electricity tariff reform and the integration of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) to support women, who are the primary cooks.

The report examines the state of play for e-commerce at the WTO, focusing on the multilateral Work Programme on Electronic Commerce (WPEC) and the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). It details the ongoing conflict over the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, the substance of the proposed Agreement on Electronic Commerce (ECA), and the challenges regarding its legal incorporation into the WTO framework, particularly concerning the needs of developing countries and LDCs.