In 2014, IISD convened an expert meeting to explore alternative models for settling investment disputes at the international level to supplement or replace existing mechanisms.

Building on the results of the 2014 meeting and recent developments in international practice regarding investment-related dispute settlement, IISD prepared a preliminary draft outline of an Agreement Creating an International Dispute Settlement Agency for Transboundary and Other Investments, which was the main subject of the discussions at the second expert meeting held in Montreux from May 23 to 24, 2016. Experts considered and critiqued elements of the draft outline, suggested alternative approaches and identified additional resources and sources to consider. Participants also discussed institutional and strategic options for further development of an institutional basis for an expanded international regime for the resolution of investment disputes.

2015-2016 was the year that IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) truly opened its doors to the world.

During its second season under IISD management, the facility expanded its research and outreach portfolios, welcoming visitors, communities, professors, students and more, from across Canada and the rest of the world. 

This year's annual report is full of updates, facts, statistics and images from our staff, visitors and partners.

In addition to Indonesia’s objective of increasing the share of renewable energy in their generation mix, the country’s electricity sector is facing a number of challenges, notably the need to meet rising demand for electricity and to serve consumers in geographically remote regions.

In order to respond these challenges, the government has launched a set of initiatives that are indeed increasing generation capacity, expanding electricity networks and improving quality of supply. But is this enough to meet the government’s targets?

This report demonstrates that subsidies are still an important part of the state-owned electricity company and that remote areas are not seeing previous improvements in the same way as populated ones are. Also, coal generation is getting the main focus of the capacity-increase programs, despite the important potential of renewable sources.

The document concludes that the largest challenge for Indonesia’s electricity sector might be to move beyond providing electricity to delivering electricity in a sustainable manner. It should rely less on coal and assure an efficient electrification of remote areas, evaluating the potential of decentralized generation based on renewable capacity.

This report explores current knowledge on energy subsidy reforms and gender through a review of existing literature.

First, it sets out the global context of energy subsidies, energy access and gender empowerment. It then reviews literature on gender, energy access, fossil fuel subsidies and mitigation measures related to subsidy reform, such as cash transfers. Finally, it provides an overview of these issues across three focus countries: Bangladesh, India and Nigeria, as well as case studies on Peru, Mexico and Morocco.

The review concludes that subsidy reform is a significant opportunity for Sustainable Energy for All and that poorly performing subsidies do not benefit impoverished women. At the national level, however, the removal of subsidies related to lighting and cooking fuels can negatively affect women's lives. As a result, governments should develop more information about the gendered impacts of reforms and, in the meantime, adopt a "precautionary principle," ensuring that reform plans are designed to safeguard women's access to clean household energy sources. The paper also sets out an agenda for future research on this issue in Bangladesh, India and Nigeria.

This is the first publication in the Global Subsidies Initiative project "Gender and Energy Sector Reform," funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and coordinated by the International Network on Energy and Sustainable Energy (ENERGIA). For more information, see www.iisd.org/gsi/fossil-fuel-subsidies/gender.

Over the last 10 years, China has seen an unprecedented deployment of wind power, with capacity growing from 1.26 gigawatts (GW) in 2005 to 91.4 GW at the end of 2013.

Notwithstanding this impressive growth, the problems encountered have included uneven resource distribution, disjunctions in location of power supply and demand, the need to expand domestic industry and the need to achieve a proper balance of financial supports. These issues have been addressed with some success; however, others persist, such as delays in connection of wind power to the grid and curtailment of generated power from connected farms. These need to be resolved to ensure the success of future wind power development in the country.

This report takes a closer look at the drivers behind the impressive wind power development in China in order to understand the complex connection between the policy goals, policy measures and development impact. In particular, it considers two related issues that have been encountered—curtailment of generation and delays in connection of projects—and how these are being addressed. The report aims to identify the lessons to be learned to inform future policy measures in China and elsewhere.

The analysis finds that there are technical, governance and economic factors that have given rise to these two prominent issues. With respect to delayed connection, the technical factor is that the expansion of national wind power resources has outpaced the construction of transmission. On the governance side, we see that construction plans for wind farms and grids are not aligned, grid construction was not emphasized enough, and there was insufficient state-level oversight and coordination between the national and state levels. Economically, grid operator supports are weaker than those for power development.

The government has acknowledged these issues and taken steps to address them. The 2012 White Paper on China’s energy policy highlights the need to increase grid capacity. The 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP) also refers to the need to coordinate development of both grid and capacity, and there is a suggestion that the next FYP will address planning, development and integration with the goal of resolving curtailment.

In some ways, China’s current challenges with wind power can be considered in terms of the country being a victim of its own success. Capacity has expanded rapidly, and the domestic industry has grown at an impressive rate. Rather than a lack of supply, the challenges of curtailment and delayed connection are issues of getting supply to demand. This could be seen as an enviable problem by many countries looking to expand renewables, but it is a problem nonetheless.

China has already taken steps to address some of these challenges, and the lessons and suggestions in this report could accelerate addressing the challenges of curtailment and delayed connection. Just as importantly, the issues China has faced, as one of the early global actors on wind power, provide important guidance for other countries and project developers looking to replicate their successes—and limit their challenges—in other countries.

This report offers a summary of several countries’ experiences implementing energy policy shifts in an area of particular interest to China: the transition away from coal to cleaner fuels and a low-carbon economy.

Using IISD’s “window of opportunity” framework, these case studies are analyzed in terms of the four critical elements of success: context, champions, concerns and complementary policies. In the second part of the briefing note, we apply the same framework to China’s own experiences in phasing out coal around Beijing. The briefing note aims to assist policy-makers, the expert community, media and all others interested in the lessons learned that countries can exchange and benefit from international experience, including within the G20 and UNFCCC processes.

Climate change presents a very real challenge to Namibia’s continued development progress.

As discussed in this review of its efforts to adapt to climate change, population growth, severe inequality and development trends will interact with changing rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, increased rates of evapotranspiration and rising sea levels to exacerbate water scarcity and other existing vulnerabilities. Despite these risks, Namibia is considered less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than most of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, which is more a function of its development status and sparse population than a reflection of its exposure to climate change or its policy environment. The government has identified six key sectors as particularly vulnerable: water and wetlands; agriculture; sea level rise, the coastal zone and fisheries; tourism; health; and disaster risk management. Climate change action has been prioritized by the government, which has passed a national climate change policy. However, momentum on the subject is strongly tied to donor interest and funding. Adaptation programs and projects currently underway in Namibia, as well as adaptation networks and communities of practice, are limited. This report provides an overview of these issues. It is one in a series of country reviews prepared by IISD to provide the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) with a snapshot of adaptation action in its countries of engagement.

Climate change presents a very real challenge to Botswana’s continued development and relative prosperity. The report examines the extent to which adaptation actions are being taken by Botswana to meet this challenge.

The country’s climate vulnerability is closely tied to its existing high level of water scarcity. As such, the government of Botswana has identified five key sectors as particularly vulnerable: water, health, crops, grasslands and livestock and forestry. However, the government does not consider climate change a national priority, and the subsequent lack of guiding policy, legislation and strategy on responding to the impacts of climate change, as well as a dearth of adaptation programs and projects within the country, will only exacerbate existing and expected climate-related threats. This report explores these issues in greater depth. It is one in a series of country reviews prepared by IISD to provide the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) with a snapshot of adaptation action in its countries of engagement.

As described in this report, climate change challenges Uganda’s efforts to become a middle-income country by 2040.

Rising temperatures and variable rainfall patterns are expected to negatively affect important sources of livelihoods and economic activity, including commercial and subsistence crop production, livestock, forestry and fisheries. These changes are of particular concern for Uganda’s semi-arid northern and northeastern regions, as well as its “cattle corridor.” Concerted adaptation and poverty reduction efforts will be required in these areas to build resilience to climate change. The Government of Uganda has recognized climate change as a risk to its national development plans and responded by developing a National Climate Change Policy as well as a supporting political structure for its implementation. A process to develop a National Adaptation Plan is under way. The majority of international financial support for adaptation is concentrated in the agriculture and water sectors. There are also ongoing projects that aim to strengthen governance capacity, provide climate information and improve disaster risk management. Gaps remain in mainstreaming adaptation into sectoral strategies and plans, as well as decision-making at the district level. Greater investment could also be made to improve adaptive capacity in the fisheries, forestry, energy and health sectors. These issues are explored more fully in this report, which is one in a series of country reviews prepared by IISD in support of the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA).

As explored in this review of current adaptation action in Tanzania, climate change presents a very real challenge to this country’s continued development and relative prosperity.

Rising temperatures, rising seas and changes to where, when, and how much rain falls threaten to overwhelm the population’s already low adaptive capacities and reverse the country’s recent development progress. Central to the population’s vulnerability is a widespread reliance on climate-dependent livelihoods, as well as high levels of poverty; both mean that climate change must be considered a high priority for the government. The government has identified a number of key sectors in need of adaptation action: water, coastal and marine environments, forestry, wildlife, agriculture, health, tourism, energy, industry, livestock, fisheries, infrastructure, human settlements and land use. The state has made some headway on developing climate change strategies and action plans, and setting up the institutional structures that are required to meet the challenge of climate change. However, more needs to be done to implement these strategies and to integrate climate change into the policies of key relevant sectors, including water, health, agriculture and disaster risk reduction. Encouragingly, there is a relatively high level of adaptation action currently underway in Tanzania. This report explores these issues in greater depth. It is one in a series of country reviews prepared by IISD to provide the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) with a snapshot of adaptation action in its countries of engagement.