Key Messages

• When taking account of externalities the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Dakar brings 2,191,656 million CFA total net benefits to the Senegalese society.
• The positive externalities of the BRT project are significant and make the project worthwhile.

This report discusses the results of the SAVi analysis on the Bus Rapid Transit project in Dakar (Senegal).

The public transportation project that is set up to improve mobility in and around Dakar expects to transfer 300,000 passengers per day. 

The SAVi analysis takes the following externalities into account: additional income spent in the domestic economy because of the job creation related to the project, the value of time saved, avoided cost of transportation, avoided cost of pollution, avoided cost of GHG emissions and avoided costs of accidents. It simulates different scenarios based on the demand for public transportation with the BRT. The results demonstrate that the positive externalities of the BRT project are significant and make the project worthwhile. 

Key Messages

• Green public procurement (GPP) is about optimizing value for money across the life cycle for taxpayers. 
• The IISD GPP Model measures the costs and benefits of purchasing green buildings, vehicles, cement and steel compared to a business-as-usual scenario. 
• The model demonstrates that GPP has significant benefits for the Canadian taxpayer.  
• The results of this assessment provide procurers and policy-makers in Canada with the knowledge to make public procurement a strategic tool for implementing an inclusive, low-carbon economy.

What if public procurement of buildings, cement, steel and vehicles were sustainable? What would be the cost of shifting toward sustainable procurement in these major areas of public spending? And what would be the benefits, in financial terms and in environmental, social and economic value?

IISD developed a simulation model to answer these questions for public procurement in Canada. The Green Public Procurement (GPP) Model for Canada simulates the financial, economic, social and environmental values associated with the procurement of sustainable buildings, cement and steel for public infrastructure, and vehicles in Canada. It simulates these costs and benefits for buildings, cement, steel and vehicles procured by the Canadian federal government over a timeline from 2016 to 2035 across business-as-usual and sustainable scenarios.

Key Messages

• The SAVi analysis on the N'Diaye wind farm project in Senegal demonstrates that, compared to other energy technologies (coal and high-fuel oils), the wind project brings the most benefits to the Senegalese economy and environment. 
• The analysis shows that the wind project is financially viable, especially when taking into account the externalities and climate-related risks. SAVi also demonstrates the positive impact the project has on employment and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The Bureau Operationel du Suivi (BOS) of the Plan Emergent Senegal requested that IISD use the SAVi tool to calculate the costs of risks and externalities of the N’Diaye wind farm project. The SAVi analysis demonstrated that the financial attractiveness of sustainable infrastructure projects increases by embedding climate-related risks and externalities.

SAVi simulated financial indicators and externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions, job creation and air pollution for different scenarios and made a comparison with alternative energy technologies (coal and high-fuel oil). Some of the key results of the analysis are the following:

• High-fuel oil-generated electricity is the least attractive option: the levelized cost of electricity, including externalities, is CFA 155,728 per MWh compared to CFA 43,266 per MWh for wind energy and CFA 52,998 per MWh for coal-generated electricity. 
• Under a climate risk scenario, embedding a carbon tax and the physical impact of climate change, the internal rate of return from a coal project in comparison with the N'Diaye wind farm decreases from 24 per cent to 13 per cent, while the internal rate of return of the wind project remains steady at 12 per cent. 
• Across the life cycle of the project, the wind farm will create, on average, 66 full-time equivalent jobs per year compared to 11 per year on average for a coal-fired power plant with the same capacity.

This report provides methodological guidance for measuring fossil fuel subsidies in the context of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 12.c.1: “Amount of fossil fuel subsidies per unit of GDP (production and consumption)”.

This methodology is intended for use by National Statistical Systems in compiling national estimates of fossil fuel subsidies. It also includes an elaboration of how fossil fuel subsidies can be measured at the global level. 

The report has been prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) in close collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development's (IISD) Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) and experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The process also involved the establishment and convening of an international expert group that provided advice on the methodology and on the operationalization of the methodology.

Ecuador’s economy is dominated by natural resources, particularly oil, which accounted for approximately 11 per cent of the country’s GDP until a few years ago. However, recent financial problems within the country have led the Ecuadorian government to look for alternatives to maintain economic stability. One of these measures has been to promote investment in the formerly neglected mining industry.

Since 2015, the government has made important efforts to better manage the sector, including mitigating the impacts of extractives on the biologically rich country. The Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources has launched new policies for the development of the mining sector to establish conditions to attract investment from international large-scale mining (LSM) companies and to improve the management of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).

The IGF conducted a Mining Policy Framework (MPF) Assessment at the request of the Ecuadorian government. It consisted of an extensive review of key domestic and international law and policies, meetings with stakeholders and a seven-day field visit to the country. The IGF MPF Assessment identified gaps related to post-mining transition and environmental management linked to the region’s new LSM sector. The IGF report recommends that the Ecuadorian government:

• Conduct meaningful community consultations, particularly with Indigenous Peoples.
• Integrate international best practices on environmental management into national standards and legislation.
• Integrate specific guidelines on waste and water management into environmental impact studies.
• Create a more robust database of the ASM sector and strengthen the formalization process.

Document currently only available in Spanish.

Commodity traders play an essential role in metals and minerals trade, with the current number of companies engaged in these activities numbering at least 2000. In the case of some metals, at least one-fifth of global trade in those metals is handled by such companies, with that share even higher in certain instances.

Metals and minerals trading companies, often small in size, pose some tax risk to host country governments. That risk, while limited, still requires further action by traders, tax authorities, lawmakers, and other actors in home and host countries to ensure that they are addressed appropriately, including the potential for corrupt behavior and harmful tax practices. 

This report brings together the results of a literature review and extensive interviews with people from two dozen countries that are engaged in commodity trading. The authors assess the tax risks that these companies may pose to home and host countries, and describe a series of recommendations for mitigating such risks and resolving transparency concerns. The report also provides an overview of the key features and developments in commodity trading, including the moves being made by some of these companies into other areas, such as the provision of financial services. The authors do not cover commodity trading in the oil and gas sectors, nor in agricultural commodities.

The report was prepared by Anton Löf and Magnus Ericsson of RMG Consulting, with the guidance of Alexandra Readhead and Howard Mann of IISD. It was made possible through the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

This paper focuses on local procurement policies designed to boost the number of goods and services purchased by mining operations from local stakeholders.

It unpacks various objectives that a local procurement policy can help respond to. It also details various types of policy instruments that can be used in the design of local procurement policies and underlines the strengths and weaknesses of each type of measure.

In a large number of resource-rich countries, large investment inflows and revenue generation driven by exports mean that the mining sector is an important driver of growth. But in developing countries, the mining sector generally does not have a good track record when it comes to leveraging its potential for industrial development and economic transformation.

Yet the potential is significant: if harnessed well, mining can unlock industrial activities through more value addition; create business opportunities for the domestic private sector from local procurement, in particular close to mine sites; generate indirect jobs along the supply chain; and provide wider opportunities for the economy, notably through the use of infrastructure and mining-related capabilities for other economic sectors.

India could save money and reduce indoor air pollution by switching kerosene subsidies to solar.

Key Messages

• Switching subsides from kerosene to off-grid solar would benefit the millions of Indian households that suffer frequent blackouts or that cannot afford grid electricity.
• A range of off-grid solar products is now cheaper than kerosene over the lifespan of the technology. Surveys also indicate that people strongly prefer off-grid solar compared to kerosene, even if this means a reduction in the kerosene subsidy.
• This report shares a plan for India to swap kerosene subsidies for solar subsidies through a six-step implementation plan with the end goal of an India where there is clean and reliable power for all.

Kerosene is not an ideal fuel: it has negative health impacts, gives poor lighting, emits greenhouse gases, raises the fire risk and causes subsidy costs to soar when international oil prices rise.

Millions of households in India, however, continue to use kerosene lamps. They may not be able to afford electricity or the electricity grid has not reached their community. Electricity blackouts also drive some households to ignite their lamps.

This independent study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) shows that switching subsidies from kerosene to off-grid solar products would improve electricity access for households that still rely on kerosene. The costs of solar products have fallen in recent years; by spreading the initial costs over a solar product's lifetime, there are clear cost savings for households and taxpayers that justify the switch to solar.

This report provides a six-step implementation plan for governments. The first three steps provide options on funding, targeting recipients and selecting solar products. The next steps are presented as three separate pathways depending on whether the government chooses to subsidize consumers, manufacturers or financial products. The goal for each pathway is the same: to assist India’s transition to clean and reliable power for all.

Adapting to the impacts of climate change, whether at the national, sub-national or community level, is not the responsibility of national governments alone.

It requires the coordinated input of multiple stakeholders, including local authorities, development partners, communities and civil society. Businesses and investors also need to be involved, as they are the key engines of economic growth in developing countries, accounting for 60 per cent of gross domestic product, 80 per cent of capital flows and 90 per cent of jobs. They will be relied on to create the jobs needed to support adaptation, to develop the products and services needed for societies to become more climate-resilient, and to finance—directly or indirectly—many adaptation actions. The strategic and well-informed inclusion of the private sector in climate change adaptation planning and activities must be a key part of all countries’ efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change; they will be key partners in the design, financing and implementation of adaptation priorities.

The National Adaptation Plan process differs from past processes in that it offers a medium- and long-term vision of national adaptation action, aligned with development plans and with a supporting regulatory and policy framework. If properly communicated, it foregrounds a country’s key climate vulnerabilities. It therefore can provide all stakeholders, including the private sector, with a stable and predictable roadmap for a government’s priorities on national adaptation.

This study aims to offer guidance to governments and their partners on how to engage the private sector in the NAP process. Private sector engagement in the NAP process, for the purposes of this paper, is defined as the meaningful involvement of private sector actors—ranging in size, sector, motivation and whether they operate in the formal or informal sector—in the planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of national adaptation planning processes. Governments remain the overall owners and drivers of the NAP process. However, for NAPs to be successfully implemented and climate resilience strengthened, private sector actors will need to be involved.

Adopting recycling in the mining sector and in supply chains is essential to ensure the transition to a low-carbon economy is responsible and sustainable for the longer term.

Key Messages

• Interest in renewable technologies (such as electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines) has increased demand for cobalt and lithium. However, global supplies of both minerals are not projected to meet demand, with research forecasting shortfalls in the coming decade.
• Extracting cobalt and lithium from old products and infrastructure is essential to heading off predicted metal shortfalls, empowering clean energy transitions and reducing risk of human exploitation.

Interest in renewable technologies (such as electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines) has increased demand for cobalt and lithium.

However, global supplies of both minerals are not projected to meet demand, with research forecasting shortfalls in the coming decade.

Lithium and cobalt recycling, conducted in a responsible and transparent way, could help head off metal shortfalls while reducing pressure on mining communities vulnerable to exploitation. However, recycling rates remain low due to a lack of transparency in recycling supply chains; manufacturers purchasing substitute minerals due to high prices for raw cobalt and lithium; and inefficient collection of cobalt and lithium from existing infrastructure, to name a few.

Sustainability and Second Life: The Case for Cobalt and Lithium Recycling’s recommendations include:

• Increased transparency and responsible sourcing along primary and recycling supply chains
• Enhancing the eco-design of products containing lithium and cobalt
• Raising consumer awareness regarding current collection and recycling schemes
• New or revised investments to improve collection infrastructure, technology development and knowledge creation
• Clearly designating the actors responsible and liable for recycling materials