Search Climate Insights Directory

This guide by RMI provides strategic advice for municipalities to renegotiate franchise agreements with electric and gas utilities to advance climate, equity, and resilience goals. It emphasizes moving beyond narrow legal scopes to incorporate specific climate actions, equitable funding, and infrastructure resilience, while highlighting the importance of overcoming informational asymmetries during negotiations.

This briefing by RMI discusses the necessity of focused electric vehicle (EV) policies to ensure low- to moderate-income communities are not excluded from the energy transition. Based on a feasibility study conducted for Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), the document identifies specific electric mobility modes—microtransit, carsharing, and micromobility—that can address systemic transportation gaps and outlines the critical role electric utilities can play in supporting these initiatives.

The report 'Electric Mobility for All' is a feasibility study by RMI that examines electric transportation options for low- to moderate-income (LMI) residents in Connecticut. It aims to address equity gaps in the transition to zero-emissions vehicles, specifically focusing on how to overcome barriers such as cost premiums and limited charging infrastructure for LMI communities who are disproportionately affected by poor air quality.

This RMI briefing analyzes Georgia Power's December 2021 20-year energy plan, concluding that while the plan significantly reduces coal reliance, it remains inconsistent with a 1.5°C-aligned pathway and the parent company's 2050 net-zero goal due to continued gas reliance and underestimated load growth.

This RMI fact sheet argues that electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States currently produce significantly fewer emissions than internal combustion engine vehicles and that 'smart charging' can further reduce these emissions by aligning charging with periods of cleaner energy availability.

RMI analyzes clean energy market options for PJM, arguing that accurately accounting for the capacity value of clean resources reduces costs and emissions. The report evaluates the Forward Clean Energy Market and Integrated Clean Capacity Market designs, noting that while they can produce optimal outcomes, state carve-out policies introduce cost and emission trade-offs. RMI recommends that PJM and RASTF remove barriers to clean energy participation in the capacity market and that states collaborate to define a standardized clean energy product to streamline procurement and accelerate decarbonization.

This fact sheet by RMI argues that renewable energy is a disinflationary force rather than a driver of inflation. It contrasts the experience curves of solar and wind technologies, which lead to falling costs as deployment increases, with the volatile commodity-based pricing of fossil fuels. The document asserts that accelerating the transition to renewables is the most effective way to reduce energy costs and mitigate inflation.

This project update from RMI describes the performance of Nigeria's first commercial undergrid minigrid in Mokoloki, Ogun State. Launched in February 2020 through a tripartite partnership between the Mokoloki community, Nayo Tropical Technology, and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), the project provides reliable solar power to a community that previously had unreliable grid access. The report highlights the project's financial viability, technical stability, and its role in stimulating local economic growth.

This RMI briefing proposes a standard, open-source, blockchain-based technical architecture to transform greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting. The goal is to move from static, average-based reporting to a system using primary data at the product level, enabling better procurement decisions to lower Scope 3 emissions through a verifiable, digital audit trail across supply chains.

This policy brief by RMI argues that current carbon accounting frameworks for corporate ESG reporting are inadequate for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrating meaningful change, particularly regarding supply chain emissions and individual asset or product impacts.

This report by RMI proposes the inclusion of electric vehicles (EVs) within India's Priority Sector Lending (PSL) guidelines to address financing gaps and risks that currently hinder retail EV adoption.

This briefing by RMI outlines five key trends expected to shape climate-aligned finance in 2022, focusing on the transition from high-level net-zero pledges to substantiated targets, credible transition plans, and real-world emissions reductions.

This policy memo from RMI outlines strategies and recommendations for scaling green hydrogen to support sectors of the clean economy where electrification is not feasible, specifically targeting heavy industry and transportation.

This briefing by RMI and the Coalition on Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) proposes three changes to carbon accounting principles to better drive emissions reductions in supply chains. The authors argue that current corporate-level reporting is insufficient for procurement decisions and advocate for a shift toward product-level disclosure based on primary data, fixed boundaries for comparison, and market-driven measurement incentives.

This 2021 update from RMI analyzes the economic, health, and jobs impacts of 'clean energy portfolios' (CEPs)—which combine solar, wind, storage, demand flexibility, and energy efficiency—as alternatives to the more than 88 gigawatts of gas power plants proposed across the United States in 2021.

This RMI briefing argues that new gas-fired power plants in the United States are becoming increasingly uneconomic compared to Clean Energy Portfolios (CEPs). The document highlights a trend of gas plant cancellations and warns of significant stranded cost risks due to falling renewable energy prices and evolving policy priorities regarding health, jobs, and community impacts.

This briefing by RMI argues that reducing embodied carbon (EC)—emissions from the procurement, manufacturing, construction, and disposal of building materials—is essential for India to meet its COP26 climate commitments. The document highlights that while operational emissions are often the focus, the rapid growth of India's urban construction and the energy-intensive nature of its steel, cement, and brick industries present a significant risk of locking in high emissions for decades.

A case study detailing RMI's assistance to the Government of Montserrat and its utility company in installing a 750 kW solar system and 1 MWh battery storage, which brought the island to 50 percent renewable energy installed capacity.

This policy brief by RMI argues that the Build Back Better Act could be made more effective by allowing regulated utilities to opt out of 'tax normalization' requirements for stand-alone battery storage and transmission projects eligible for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). While the bill introduces positive changes such as direct pay and the option for solar developers to use the Production Tax Credit (PTC), the author contends that current normalization rules force utilities to retain some ITC benefits for shareholders rather than passing them to customers, thereby increasing costs and disincentivizing the deployment of critical grid infrastructure.

This briefing by RMI discusses the role of non-state actors in narrowing the 'ambition gap' between current global emissions trajectories and the 1.5°C goal. It argues that while national pledges are currently insufficient, 'ambition loops'—cycles of leadership and followership among businesses, investors, and cities—can accelerate the adoption of climate solutions through collective action and positive feedback mechanisms.