Infrastructure—including transportation, electricity, telecommunications, water and sanitation—is essential to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to the success of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

However, to achieve the SDGs and address climate change, the infrastructure to be upgraded and built must be sustainable—it must be specifically designed to mitigate economic, social and environmental risks, and to generate economic, social and environmental co-benefits.

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are among the modes that government may adopt to structure infrastructure projects. The PPP contract forms a significant part of the normative framework governing the relationship between the government and the investor, allocating responsibilities and risks. For PPPs to lead to the development of sustainable infrastructure, governments and private parties must ensure that sustainability criteria are embedded in the project from its inception and appropriately reflected in the PPP contract.

The 2017 edition of the World Bank Group’s Guidance on PPP Contractual Provisions presents sample contract language that governments may adopt for PPPs. However, as pointed out by Foley Hoag LLP, the guidance frequently offers advice that restrains government measures aimed at achieving the SDGs, and misses an opportunity to consider how infrastructure projects can contribute to sustainable development.

Complementing the analysis by Foley Hoag LLP, this report seizes the opportunity missed by the World Bank Group’s guidance. Bridging IISD’s experience in public procurement and infrastructure finance and investment, it defines sustainable infrastructure, outlines its expected characteristics and co-benefits, and presents why governments must and how they can integrate sustainability into infrastructure contracts.

As the province of Manitoba moves toward a new climate policy paradigm, the land use-based practices in private, seeded lands within Agro-Manitoba present an opportunity to sequester or reduce net emissions.

To this end, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Prairie Climate Centre conducted a high-level quantitative analysis of the sequestration potential of land use practices in Agro-Manitoba that are additional to business as usual. The land use practices that were considered in this study include those related to wetlands, forestry, riparian buffers, minimum tillage, perennials and cover crops.

This report articulates how fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR) can contribute to a just transition, and how a just transition framework can contribute to successful reform.

The report explores a number of reasons for a framework, including alignment of the objectives of FFSR and just transition and, very importantly, FFSR’s ability to unlock revenues for implementing just transition.

Fossil fuel subsidies act against sustainability, while reform is consistent with just transition principles. These subsidies exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change: removing global subsidies to fossil fuel production would save 37 Gt of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. The elimination of all subsidies to fossil fuel production and consumption globally will reduce emissions by roughly 10 per cent.

This report goes into detail about the various ways in which FFSR can be consistent with just transition. The scale of current fossil fuel subsidies in the world coupled with the massive financial needs for transition are early indicators of the benefits of approaching FFSR with just transition in mind. Leveraging this misspent finance to support just transition is just one of many ways in which these issues can coalesce.

This report maps out the context, magnitude, trends and impacts of India’s energy subsidies. It aims to enhance transparency and dialogue on energy choices in India and to help track shifts in government support from fossil fuels to renewables.

The reviewed subsidies are grouped according to the energy type they benefit: a) coal; b) oil and gas; and c) renewable energy. In addition, we single out the grouping of subsidies to d) electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) that are, in theory, neutral to the energy source, though in practice benefit mostly coal because of its dominance in India’s electricity generation. Subsidies to nuclear power and large hydropower were excluded due to the lack of data.

FURTHER READING: India's Energy Transition: Subsidies for Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy, 2018 Update

If finds that energy subsidies from the central government declined substantially between FY2014 and FY2016, from INR 216,408 crore (USD 35.8 billion) to INR 133,841 crore (USD 20.4 billion). While the large majority of this expenditure supports fossil fuels and a fossil-fuel-dominated electricity system, the trends also show a sharp decline in fossil-fuel subsidies and an increase in renewable energy subsidies, suggesting a shift in priorities. Full details on the subsidies identified and quantified are provided in the report and its annexes.

Energy subsidies have wide ramifications beyond government budgets, including for markets, society and the environment, and are linked to issues such as stranded assets, enhancing energy access, public health and climate change. Transparency can help to enable an informed debate among the public and policy-makers on how well aligned they are with India's objectives.

The Manitoba Bioeconomy Atlas has been disabled. If you want to learn more about our work championing nature-based solutions, click here.

The Manitoba Bioeconomy Atlas demonstrates the economic and ecological value of common wetland plants as a marketable feedstock for biomass energy—all with the goal of creating a healthier Lake Winnipeg basin and developing a Manitoba bioeconomy.

The Manitoba Bioeconomy Atlas realizes a web-based spatial inventory of conventional and unconventional biomass sources; using a custom model to determine optimal sites for biomass refineries and thermal facilities; and provide a tool to support stakeholder decisions, markets and policies in the production of Manitoba’s bioeconomy.

If you are a biomass producer, it can help you work out how much biomass you have and how much it is worth.

If you are a biomass consumer, it can help you source biomass, calculate how much it costs and learn why using biomass is the environmentally friendly and economic choice.

Come and explore the Manitoba Bioeconomy Atlas and learn the landscape of Manitoba’s biomass resources and how this province can develop a sustainable economy for the 21st century.

The Government of Indonesia is considering reform of its consumer subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) due to its rising fiscal cost: IDR 25 trillion (USD 1.9 billion) in 2016: around half of its total energy subsidy expenditure.

Subsidized 3-kg LPG cylinders are currently available to all citizens. Reforms are likely to target the subsidy to the poor or replace it with cash transfers through the social assistance system.

Subsidized LPG is an important energy source for the 50 per cent of poor and near-poor households that use it in Indonesia. Women in these households are more vulnerable than their male counterparts to the impact of any price increases in LPG. Poor women may be affected economically by: 1) rising LPG prices eroding household budgets, 2) reducing scope for leisure or economic activity due to greater time spent cooking or collecting fuel or 3) increased input costs to small businesses.

This study provides an initial investigation into LPG subsidy reform and gender in Indonesia by examining the available data on household use of energy and relevant gender issues. The focus is on the poor and near-poor, which comprise the bottom 35 per cent of the population by income. Information is derived from five national household surveys and a review of relevant literature.

This data audit aims to do two things. First, it gathers general data on the status of women in Indonesia. This demonstrates the degree of gender equity and whether women face disadvantages. Second, the report examines energy use, particularly by poor women, to establish whether women are more likely to be affected by subsidy reform. The audit aims to establish a baseline and to identify data gaps.

Canada has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 per cent and developing solutions to achieve at least 80 per cent emissions reductions by 2030 and 2050, respectively, below 2005 levels.

(le français suit)

In November 2016, the Government of Canada announced that it would develop a Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) to increase the use of lower-carbon fuels and alternative technologies, such as electricity, hydrogen and renewable fuels, including renewable natural gas. The government further noted that the policy would have broad coverage and include liquid, solid and gaseous fuels in transportation, industry and buildings. The overall objective of the CFS is to achieve 30 megatonnes (Mt) of annual reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.

The Government of Canada published the Clean Fuel Standard: Discussion Paper to seek stakeholder feedback and received comments from across economic sectors, environmental organizations, academia and the public. Overall, submissions noted strong support for the CFS and its objectives, including broad agreement on the importance of contributions from all economic sectors in emission reductions necessary to achieving Canada’s climate objectives.

Norme sur les carburants propres : Résumé des commentaires écrits des intervenants sur le document de travail

Le Canada s’est engagé à réduire ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) de 30 pour 100 d’ici 2030 et à élaborer des façons de parvenir à une réduction d’au moins 80 pour 100 des émissions d’ici 2050, sous les niveaux de 2005.

En novembre 2016, le gouvernement du Canada a annoncé qu’il allait mettre au point une norme sur les carburants propres (NCP) dans le but d’augmenter l’utilisation de carburants à faible teneur en carbone et des technologies de emplacement, notamment l’électricité, l’hydrogène et les carburants renouvelables, y compris le gaz naturel renouvelable. Le gouvernement a en outre énoncé que la politique aurait une portée très large de façon à inclure les carburants à l’état liquide, solide et gazeux utilisés dans les transports, le secteur industriel et le secteur du bâtiment. La NCP devrait permettre de réduire annuellement les émissions de GES de 30 mégatonnes (Mt) d’équivalent en dioxyde de carbone d’ici 2030.

Le gouvernement Canada a publié le document ayant pour titre Norme sur les carburants propres : Document de travail pour obtenir les réactions des intervenants et les commentaires provenant des différents secteurs économiques, des organismes non gouvernementaux, du monde universitaire et de la population en général. Dans l’ensemble, on a observé un fort soutien pour la NCP et ses objectifs, car on s’entend notamment sur l’importance de la contribution de tous les secteurs économiques dans la réduction des émissions nécessaire pour atteindre les objectifs du Canada en matière de changements climatiques.

The Adaptive Watershed (TAW) is watershed-based ecosystem management that explicitly addresses the need to understand and manage for a rapidly changing climate, while also incorporating the needs of vulnerable communities and women.

In this initiative, IISD combines the interlinked concepts of ecosystem management and adaptive management into the context of watershed-based planning and implementation. Ecosystem management focuses on understanding processes, functions and benefits from natural ecological units. Both ecosystem management and watershed management reinforce the links between physical, ecological, social and economic systems to ensure that environmental and economic needs are met and enhanced for long-term future security. Adaptive management promotes a plan-do-check-correct method of management where goals and implementation plans are seen as iterative in responding to changing natural, social and economic conditions and priorities, particularly around a rapidly changing climate.

IISD has been working with partners to explore the implementation of these frameworks in a variety of ways. Our past work on ecosystem management—from concept to local-scale implementation—has highlighted the complementary elements of ecosystem and watershed management, and provided guidance for effective implementation to watershed managers and those in related planning roles. Other IISD work reviewed integrated water resource initiatives in different parts of the world to assess their application of ecosystem management concepts and tools. Similarly, our current work on ecosystem-based adaptation and gender equity contribute to this work.

This document outlines a training program intended for those in roles related to land and water management, climate adaptation and gender equity. This proposed three-day training will expose local decision-makers to a range of issues and build understanding and capacity for implementing integrated, equitable, adaptive management in watersheds. The training comprises 14 modules within three main themes. These themes include: understanding our watershed and our people; making informed decisions for an adaptive watershed plan; and inclusive management: committing to action and evaluation.

In a world where water and its health are under constant threat, it is up to the world’s freshwater laboratory to continually push the envelope when it comes to how we tackle those threats. 

In this year's annual report, we explore how IISD Experimental Lakes Area is innovating in the arena of freshwater science, not just to improve its own research, but also to advance limnology across the world.

This case study evaluates the cost of the expansion plans of coal power in the Indonesian region of Central Java and compares it with the cost of developing part of the additional capacity with renewable energy sources.

Using Rencana Usaha Penyediaan Tenaga Listrik (RUPTL), the procurement business plan of Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN, the state-owned electricity generation company), it builds on GSI's previous research estimating the cost of coal power in Indonesia, considering the cost of subsidies and externalities. The paper concludes that, even with the current feed-in tariff system for renewable technologies in Indonesia, renewable power capacity is cheaper than coal.