An animated infographic for this paper can be found here.

Sustainable financing of NAMAs in many cases ultimately requires blending funds from public and private sources, so it is essential that NAMA developers try to maximally leverage private investment. But the question of how to do so in practice can be complex. This report offers guidance to developing country NAMA practitioners and NAMA funders seeking to leverage private investment in their NAMA projects.  Drawing on case studies, it identifies six key aspects crucial to developing bankable NAMAs and offers guidance on risk mitigation policies that can be instituted to increase NAMAs’ bankability. The paper also offers a set of specific recommendations for both practitioners and donors looking to maximize private investment in their NAMAs.

SDplanNet is a sustainable development planning network created to help government professionals at the national and subnational levels share best practices and build capacity in the preparation and implementation of sustainable development strategies and inclusive green economies.

It will act as a vehicle to assist in implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper is a synopsis of discussions held at the SDplanNet-Africa regional workshop series that took place in Nairobi from March 3–5, 2014. Participating were 27 practitioners from 11 African countries and SDPlanNet colleagues from other regions, including government planning offices and environment departments at the national level, as well as regional organizations and networks with mandates for sustainable development and planning.

This paper analyzes the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Mysore, India.

The DBT is an initiative of the Indian central government to develop an electronic payment system for centrally funded social protection schemes. Under the DBT-for-LPG subsidies (DBTL), households would order an LPG cylinder from their LPG distributor, receive a payment equivalent to the current subsidy amount via electronic transfer to their bank account, then pay the full (unsubsidized) market price for the cylinder in cash on delivery. Mysore, a district in Karnataka state, was selected as one of 20 pilot districts for the introduction of DBTL. In early October 2013, the GSI conducted structured interviews with 120 beneficiaries in five taluks (administrative sub-divisions) of Mysore district to assess the DBTL in the areas of subsidy qualification and receipt, access to the LPG subsidy and impacts on household behaviour.

Over 40 per cent of households in India have no access to modern lighting fuels.

With electrification yet to reach every village, kerosene is a major source of lighting for these households. It is provided at subsidized rates through the government-sponsored Public Distribution System (PDS). Yet the sale of kerosene at subsidized rates leads to high costs for the government and oil companies. In December 2011, the Government of Rajasthan, with support from the Central Government, launched a pilot scheme in Kotkasim, Alwar to test a system of direct transfers to the bank accounts of ration cardholders as a means of distributing PDS kerosene subsidies. Under the scheme, every ration cardholder is allocated 3 litres of kerosene per month at the market rate (which equals the depot rate plus state-level taxes). The subsidy amount (as determined by the state authorities) is then transferred to the bank accounts of the ration cardholder on a quarterly or monthly basis. This study was undertaken to assess and evaluate the pilot project in Kotkasim with a focus on answering the following issues: how the pilot project performed against its stated policy objectives; how the pilot project impacted kerosene-consuming households, including their ability to access the subsidy and effects on household expenditure; and the policy implications for the reform of the kerosene subsidy system more generally.

This report has a sharable inforgraphic, click here to view.

Alberta is set to renew its 2007 Specified Gas Emitter Regulation (SGER), which will expire in September 2014. Recent indications are that Alberta is considering a “double-double” approach, which doubles the current regulatory standard of a 12 per cent intensity improvement and CAD$15 price ceiling. This report examines the implications of a renewed SGER with both a 24 per cent greenhouse gas intensity improvement that sets the greenhouse gas reductions required from the oil and gas sector and a $30 per tonne price ceiling that sets a maximum cost obligation to comply with the regulations.

A renewed SGER policy based on double-double parameters would deliver emission reductions inside and outside the oil and gas sector while providing research and development incentives through technology fund recycling. The costs of the double-double proposal are less than the price of a Timbit per barrel, or $0.13; however, emission reductions would be equal about 20 per cent of Canada’s remaining Copenhagen emissions gap in 2020.

This report investigates the extent of policy space for the practical uptake of sustainable public procurement (SPP) in South Africa.

It also assesses opportunities for the launch of pilot tenders that will yield greater environmental, social and economic value across the life cycle of the asset or service being procured. Most importantly, this report also demonstrates that the Government of South Africa can use sustainable public procurement to drive green industrial growth, implement Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, increase green innovation and deliver better value-for-money for the South African tax payer.

Institutional investors are increasingly committed to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their strategies for delivering risk-adjusted returns and delivering their ownership responsibilities.

Institutions with between USD$20 trillion and US$87 trillion in assets under management have made commitments to varying levels of integration, ranging from requests for improved corporate disclosure to incorporating ESG factors into valuations to changing asset allocation.

The shift to a low-carbon economy is likely to be disruptive for market valuations. Long-term carbon targets have not traditionally been included in market valuations, creating an overinvestment in fossil fuels. These could become stranded assets as policy, market, technology and social conditions change. HSBC and other financial institutions have started to analyze the valuation implications of the low-carbon transition, highlighting that 40 to 60 per cent of current European coal, oil and gas valuations are at risk from the low-carbon transition.

Reforms in investor practice and market frameworks are needed to prevent value destruction. Investors need to take action to anticipate these shifts, diverting capital from high-risk areas ahead of time. In addition, a series of policy and regulatory steps can be taken to enable financial markets to operate with greater foresight through long-term environmental challenges.

On February 20, 2014, IISD organized a workshop on “Options for the HLPF Review Mechanism”, co-sponsored by Switzerland, Norway, Egypt, Liechtenstein, Peru, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea.

It offered the opportunity for a free-ranging and informal airing both of views concerning the proposed HLPF review mechanism and of the hopes and concerns of Member States. The workshop served as a means of gauging the issues important to Members and that would have to be addressed if the review mechanism is to function optimally. The objective of this paper is to summarize the major themes that emerged from the workshop, and to provide five key questions that need to be answered, ahead of the second workshop on May 15, 2014 in New York City.

Thousands of people in the Canadian Province of Manitoba live in communities that are inaccessible by permanent conventional roads or railways.

For these communities, the province’s network of winter roads are critical to the provision of infrastructure and essential goods, economic development and the maintenance of social networks. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, warmer-than-average winter temperatures and fluctuating ice and water levels decreased the number of days in which the winter road system was open. The economic consequences were considerable—approximately $15 million to $18 million in additional costs—as necessary goods needed to be flown into the remote communities.

This case study documents how Manitoba has since sought to increase the resiliency of its winter roads system in light of the potential impacts of a changing climate. Based on scientific research, risk management planning, an informal cost assessment and concerns about public safety, the province has responded by upgrading its winter road network, progressively relocating roads away from water bodies and constructing new roads on overland routes. As highlighted in the case study, these changes were enabled by:

• Policy coherence: the initiative fit into the provincial government's broad northern development strategy because of the positive socioeconomic impact of the winter road system on Northern communities.
• Opportunities management: Manitoba was able to take advantage of an ongoing research initiative to share the cost of developing the temperature projections and regression models that informed decision-makers about likely changes in the winter road season.
• Stakeholder engagement: provincial government officials brought scientists and key decision-makers together and advocated for the project.
• Policy flexibility: the winter road network is already a responsive and adaptable system, as it is rebuilt on an annual basis, which contributed to the initiative’s success
• Framing of the issue: framing this initiative in a risk-management context was found to be an effective way to appeal to policy-makers.

The Government of Bangladesh has committed to ensuring access to affordable and reliable electricity for all citizens by 2021.

At present, however, only about half of the population has access to electricity, while supply is hardly reliable for those with access. To improve the situation, the government has adopted a comprehensive energy development strategy to explore supply-side options along with demand management that conserves energy and discourages inefficient use.

This report addresses the key priority issues for reform in the energy sector along with an agenda for its progressive implementation. It starts with an overview of energy subsidies in Bangladesh, before surveying the country’s energy sector development plans, with an emphasis on the electricity sector. Finally, the report discusses the important role that energy pricing policy will play in achieving the government’s objectives.