Search Climate Insights Directory

This policy brief analyzes two public rural insurance programs in Brazil: the Agricultural Activity Guarantee Program (PROAGRO) and the Rural Insurance Premium Subsidy Program (PSR). The authors find that PROAGRO's design, where the government bears the risk while financial institutions operate the program, creates severe information asymmetries and moral hazard, leading to higher claim rates and increasing costs for the National Treasury. In contrast, the PSR, where private insurers bear the risk, shows greater efficiency and growth, though it struggles to reach small producers. The report recommends migrating resources from PROAGRO to the PSR, improving the training of claims adjusters, and adopting parametric insurance to reduce fraud and monitoring costs.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes two Brazilian rural insurance programs: the Programa de Garantia da Atividade Agropecuária (Proagro) and the Programa de Subvenção ao Prêmio do Seguro Rural (PSR). It examines how the design of these policies creates different incentives for producers, experts, and financial agents, arguing that Proagro's structure leads to higher information asymmetry and lower public spending efficiency compared to the PSR.

The 'Roadmap for Sustainable Infrastructure in the Amazon' report by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) proposes a framework to decouple land transport infrastructure from deforestation in the Amazon. The report identifies systemic failures in the decision-making process, the quality of socio-environmental studies, and transparency, offering twelve specific recommendations to improve project viability and reduce environmental risks.

This executive summary by the Climate Policy Initiative assesses global primary investment in methane abatement for 2019/2020. It finds that methane abatement is severely underfunded, receiving less than 2% of total climate finance, despite its high potential for rapid global warming reduction. The report highlights significant funding gaps in the fossil fuel and agriculture sectors and identifies barriers such as measurement uncertainties and a lack of standardized reporting.

The 'Toolkit for Securities Regulators in Africa Institutional Capacity Assessment (ICA)' is a guide designed to help capital market regulators in emerging markets systematically identify and address institutional gaps. It introduces the DAART framework (Define, Align, Assemble, Respect, Tailor) to ensure that capacity assessments and subsequent strengthening programmes are pragmatic, sensitive to market signals, and aligned with the specific stage of a country's market development.

This report provides an update on the insurance innovation landscape in Uganda as of July 2022. It assesses the progress of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) in implementing a 2019 action plan, identifies persistent barriers to insurance penetration, and proposes a refreshed set of recommendations to foster a more enabling environment for digital insurance and insurtech.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines fuel subsidies for marine fisheries in India, identifying them as the most significant form of government support for the sector. The document analyzes the distribution of these subsidies across focus states, their impact on sustainability and equity, and draws lessons from India's broader fossil fuel subsidy reforms to suggest paths for sustainable transition.

This policy brief examines fuel subsidies for marine fisheries in Indonesia, identifying them as the most consistent form of central government support. It highlights the risks these subsidies pose to marine sustainability and the socio-economic uncertainties regarding their benefit to small-scale fishers, while suggesting lessons from broader national fossil fuel subsidy reforms.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and Équiterre proposes a four-part framework for the Canadian government to identify and phase out 'inefficient fossil fuel subsidies' to align with climate commitments and the Paris Agreement.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and Équiterre proposes a four-criteria framework to identify and eliminate 'inefficient' fossil fuel subsidies in Canada, arguing that current efforts are fragmented and lack a clear definition of inefficiency.

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines how Indonesia can reallocate fossil fuel subsidies and taxes to fund a green recovery and accelerate its energy transition. It proposes redirecting these funds toward renewable energy deployment, grid modernization, energy access in remote areas, and energy efficiency measures to meet national climate targets.

The July 2022 Peace & Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the complexities of Africa's regional economic communities (RECs), the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union (AU), the identity crisis of the African Standby Force (ASF), and the systemic challenges in eradicating extreme poverty across the continent.

This RMI report provides recommendations for modernizing the regulatory processes of state public utilities commissions (PUCs) in the United States to accelerate the transition to a decarbonized and equitable electric grid. It identifies four primary areas for reform: setting clear proceeding objectives, expanding stakeholder roles in solution development, reducing information asymmetry through data transparency, and initiating new inclusive processes such as regulatory sandboxes and updated benefit-cost analysis frameworks.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the implementation of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in the road transport and construction sectors of Sweden and the Netherlands. It analyzes the governance structures, tools, and barriers that influence the adoption of low-carbon procurement practices in these two EU Member States.

This SEI briefing discusses the necessity of integrated planning to align the Paris Agreement's climate goals with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It evaluates existing software tools for this purpose and highlights the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) as a unique open-access, quantitative, and prospective tool capable of analyzing both Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

This report, commissioned by the British Embassy in Tallinn, evaluates Estonia's progress toward climate neutrality by 2050, building on a 2019 SEI study. While total greenhouse gas emissions fell from 18,687.4 kt CO2e in 2018 to 11,555.8 kt CO2e in 2020, the report identifies significant gaps in the energy, buildings, industry, LULUCF, transport, and agriculture sectors. Key challenges include a lack of incentives for non-residential building renovations, lagging wind energy investment, and the LULUCF sector transitioning from a carbon sink to an emitting sector in 2020.

This research paper examines the diverse responses of African nations to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and proposes four strategic options for the continent to advance its political, economic, and social interests amid the shifting geopolitical landscape.

This report summarizes a virtual workshop hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) on June 23, 2022, which focused on monitoring and modelling for water retention projects in the Canadian Prairies. The event brought together 20 participants from government, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry to share research and identify collaboration opportunities to advance water retention science and business case development.

This research paper summarizes insights from a series of deep-dive sessions hosted by WRI India in Bengaluru, involving over 20 stakeholders from the commercial electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, including manufacturers, logistics operators, and financing experts. The document outlines recommendations for accelerating the transition to electric road freight in India to combat emissions driven by urbanization and e-commerce.

A notification from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) announcing the election results for the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) following the 30th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP-30).