Search Climate Insights Directory

The audit of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) for the 2021 fiscal year concluded that the financial statements were prepared in accordance with Austrian legal regulations and present a true and fair view of the organisation's financial position. Total income for 2021 was $36.6 million, with donor income accounting for $14.3 million. The auditor found no material weaknesses in internal controls and no substantial doubt regarding the organisation's ability to continue as a going concern.

This report by the SELCO Foundation examines the technical requirements and solar power system designs for mechanical ventilators in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on addressing ventilator shortages and power instability in India.

The report assesses the current state of cooking energy in Madagascar, where over 80% of rural households rely on wood and over 60% of urban households use charcoal. It models a 'Base Scenario' aligned with national policy and a 'Universal Access Scenario' aligned with SDG7, estimating the fuel production potential for bioethanol, biogas, and pellets. The analysis highlights that while bio-fuels have significant potential without impacting food security, the primary barrier to adoption is the cost of fuel, which represents 97.1% of transition costs. Transitioning to clean cooking could reduce residential energy consumption by up to 65% and prevent thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution by 2030.

The document describes an Excel-based economic model designed to assess the Nigerian solar value chain, specifically focusing on Solar Home Systems (SHS) and mini-grids. It outlines how users can simulate different scenarios—importation, local assembly, and local manufacturing—to determine their effects on product pricing, job creation, government revenue, and greenhouse gas emissions. The manual details the model's dashboards, input sheets, and the underlying cost-per-watt and bottom-up methodologies used to derive costs and tariffs.

Trinitan Green Energy Metals (TGEM) utilizes patented Step Temperature Acid Leach (STAL) technology to refine high-purity Class I nickel from laterite ores in Indonesia. Unlike High-Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL), STAL operates at atmospheric pressure and is designed for small to medium-scale mines, offering a lower carbon and water footprint. TGEM is developing two closed-loop ecosystems—STAL One Ecopark in Bogor and IGNITE in Southwest Papua—to integrate waste management and resource sharing, aiming for net-zero emissions and compliance with international sustainability regulations, such as those in the European Union.

The document serves as a career manual for students and young professionals entering the sustainable energy sector. It outlines various professional pathways—including engineering, policy, finance, and data science—and provides a detailed breakdown of the internal and external teams at SEforALL. The guide emphasizes the need for both technical STEM qualifications and soft skills like adaptability and communication to support the achievement of SDG7 and the Paris Agreement. It also details SEforALL's inclusive, remote recruitment process and its commitment to increasing the participation of women and youth in the green economy.

The 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, coordinated by Sustainable Energy for All on behalf of UN-Energy, promotes a global effort to ensure every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption is met with carbon-free sources every hour of every day. The guidebook outlines five core principles: time-matched procurement, local procurement, technology-inclusivity, enabling new generation, and maximizing system impact. It details technical enablers such as Granular Certificates (GCs) for hourly tracking, smart metering, and 24/7 CFE Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). The document also highlights the role of green hydrogen as a storage solution and provides implementation roadmaps for energy buyers, governments, and suppliers, while emphasizing equity considerations for the Global South.

The report outlines a strategic framework for Kenya to achieve sustainable cooling through the integration of cooling needs into national energy and climate policies, such as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the National Climate Action Plan (NCAP). It proposes the creation of a cross-ministerial coordinating committee and the development of 'Cool Cities' through urban heat mitigation and green spaces. Key regulatory recommendations include updating the National Building Code for passive cooling and aligning Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) with United for Efficiency (U4E) model regulations by 2025. To support the agricultural and healthcare sectors, the document advocates for modernized cold chain infrastructure and the use of catalytic financing instruments like green bonds and blended finance to attract private investment.

The policy brief outlines a framework for Ghana to achieve sustainable cooling through the integration of cooling needs into national energy and climate plans, the establishment of a National Cooling Plan Committee, and the adoption of passive cooling and energy efficiency standards. It emphasizes the need for 'Cool Cities' initiatives in urban centers like Accra and Kumasi, the modernization of cold chains for agriculture and healthcare via renewable energy, and the use of innovative financing like green bonds to attract private investment.

The report finds that while electricity financing in 20 high-potential countries rose by 56% to $30.2 billion annually between 2013-2014 and 2015-2016, this remains far below the $52 billion needed for universal access by 2030. Financing is heavily skewed toward non-residential consumers and grid-connected technologies, with a concerning increase in fossil fuel investments, particularly coal. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a widening investment gap, receiving only 17% of total electricity funding. Meanwhile, clean cooking financing declined by 5% to $30 million, a fraction of the $4.4 billion required annually.

The report finds that global finance for energy access is insufficient, with electricity commitments reaching only half of the required USD 52 billion annually and clean cooking funding declining to USD 30 million. While electricity finance increased to USD 30.2 billion in 20 high-impact countries, it is heavily concentrated in Asia, particularly India, while Sub-Saharan Africa sees declining investments and a shift toward fossil fuels. Clean cooking remains severely underfunded, relying heavily on international grants. Case studies highlight India's success in mobilizing private finance for renewables and Indonesia's use of government subsidies to scale LPG adoption.

The report identifies a critical gap in electricity access for health-care facilities in low- and middle-income countries, estimating that nearly 1 billion people are served by facilities with no or unreliable power. It argues that reliable electricity is a fundamental enabler of universal health coverage, essential for life-saving services such as maternal care, immunization, and emergency response. The document provides a comprehensive framework for electrification, emphasizing decentralized renewable energy—particularly solar PV—as a cost-effective and climate-resilient alternative to grid extension. It estimates an urgent investment need of US$ 4.9 billion to bring facilities in 63 assessed countries up to minimal electrification levels. Key recommendations include moving from an 'install and forget' to an 'install and maintain' approach, integrating health and energy sector planning, and utilizing geospatial tools for precise needs assessments.

The report evaluates India's transition to clean cooking energy through four primary mechanisms: Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL), the Give it Up Campaign, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), and the Unified Guidelines for Selection of LPG Distributorship. While PMUY successfully provided 80 million subsidized connections to poor households by September 2019, the study finds that access has not translated into sustained use due to affordability barriers, specifically the recovery of connection loans and the high recurring cost of refills. DBTL reduced leakages by blocking 42.3 million fake or inactive connections by March 2019, but inclusion errors persist as 90 percent of the non-poor population continue to receive subsidies. The report recommends a differential subsidy for the poorest households, waiving PMUY loans, and integrating LPG programs with other social safety nets like maternal health and livelihood schemes to ensure a complete transition from biomass.

The report examines 25 initiatives across Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico to determine how social assistance can bridge the gap between market prices and what the poor can afford for energy. It distinguishes between support for physical connections and ongoing consumption, finding that while many programs successfully increase connection rates, they often fail to ensure sustainable consumption due to poor targeting, lack of data on actual energy needs, and the volatility of fuel prices. The study highlights the potential of integrating energy support into unified social registries to improve targeting and delivery.

The report assesses Ghana's energy safety nets, finding that while programs like the National Electrification Scheme and Solar PV initiatives have significantly increased physical access, most lack precise targeting of the poor. The Lifeline Tariff is the only program that explicitly targeted the poor, though it faced challenges with meter sharing and inefficient appliances. The study recommends transitioning to means-testing and improving public education to ensure energy services reach the most vulnerable.

The guide outlines a five-stage process map for building energy safety nets: Threshold, Planning, Resources, Implementation, and Evaluation. It guides policymakers through identifying eligible populations, selecting delivery mechanisms for electricity or clean cooking (covering both capital costs and ongoing consumption), determining necessary financial and administrative resources, establishing government partnerships for deployment, and creating monitoring plans to ensure program sustainability.

The audit report by Mazars Austria GmbH concludes that the financial statements of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) for the 2022 fiscal year were prepared in accordance with Austrian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and the Austrian Association Act. The organization's total assets grew significantly to $87.1 million from $26.5 million in 2021, primarily driven by an increase in donor income to $80.9 million. The auditors found no material weaknesses in internal controls and no substantial doubt regarding the organization's ability to continue as a going concern. Key expenditures in 2022 included $8.7 million for personnel, $6.6 million for consultancy fees supporting projects in Sierra Leone and Malawi, and $2.3 million for events and communications, including the SEforALL Forum in Kigali.

The world faces a 'triple crisis' of cost of living, energy security, and food security, which disproportionately affects developing countries and is exacerbated by rising energy prices. While the energy transition offers a path to address these issues, renewable energy deployment in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) is lagging behind the Global North and China/India. This disparity is driven by a lack of access to capital and prohibitively high interest rates, which increase the cost of technology. For example, the cost of solar PV in Pakistan is 57% higher than in the United States due to capital costs. To unlock renewables, the document proposes systemic financial solutions focused on identifying investment pipelines, developing innovative financing mechanisms to crowd in private capital, and improving climate risk pricing and local currency investing.

Ghana aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2060, a transition requiring approximately USD 550 billion in capital investment. The plan identifies a shift toward solar PV, electric vehicles, and clean cooking as primary abatement drivers, while noting that without action, emissions could rise from 28 Mt CO2e in 2021 to over 140 Mt by 2050. The strategy emphasizes the need for de-risking instruments to attract private capital and the establishment of an Energy Transition Office to coordinate implementation.

The report evaluates Malawi's progress toward clean cooking goals, highlighting a significant gap between current ownership and 2030 targets. It identifies affordability and low stove durability as primary barriers, estimating a $108.8M investment needed for the Compact scenario and $246.0M for the more ambitious IEP scenario. The IEP scenario envisions a total phase-out of fuelwood and charcoal by leveraging universal electrification for e-cooking and expanding biofuels. The report emphasizes the need for durable stoves, innovative financing, and regional strategies, particularly in the Northern region, to reduce health risks and gender-based time burdens associated with fuel collection.