This paper focuses on how to undertake energy subsidy reform in light of country experiences. The paper reviews the challenges arising from energy subsidies, emphasizing their fiscal costs, adverse macroeconomic and environmental impacts, and the regressive distribution of subsidy benefits. A novel feature of the paper is that it presents the most comprehensive estimates of energy subsidies available covering petroleum products, electricity, natural gas, and coal. A central objective of the paper is to learn from past subsidy reform experiences, both successful and otherwise, to identify key design features that can facilitate reform.
The paper draws on lessons from international reform experiences from 22 country case studies (covering 28 reform episodes) undertaken by IMF staff, which are provided in a supplement to this paper.
Each of the last several years has seen a fresh record high in global carbon dioxide emissions, and scientists say if this trend continues the planet will suffer a catastrophic increase in temperature. With electricity generation responsible for about half of recent growth in emissions, a new IEA book looks at ways the power sector can keep up with an improvement in global living standards while minimising the risk of drastic climate change.
In Electricity in a Climate-Constrained World, IEA experts consider potential solutions ranging from the design of a Chinese emissions trading programme to stand-by consumption of networked appliances to carbon capture and storage.
The book lays out the reasons electricity generation must get cleaner, and do so quickly. Higher temperatures will affect all aspects of human life, including the very electricity sector that emits so much of the cause of climate change.
The future of renewable energy is fundamentally a choice, not a foregone conclusion given technology and economic trends, according to this report. It examines the future of renewable energy in the context of: total energy share by sector; integration between utilities, buildings, industry and transportation; business models and investment; urban planning; national and regional policy; and technology, cost and market growth. The report is based on the opinions of 170 leading experts and the projections of 50 recently published scenarios. It finds a wide range of expert projections of the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2050, with low estimates below 20 per cent to high estimates upwards of 50-95 per cent. Experts predicted that the expansion of renewable will accelerate through 2020, particularly in leading developing countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand.
This report includes case studies on market growth and policy support for the European Union, the United States, Japan, China and India.
This paper analyses the existing legal frameworks within which a possible Sustainable Energy Trade Agreement (SETA) could be negotiated to address energy-related trade governance and the resulting legal challenges and opportunities. It looks at a number of options under which a SETA could be given legal shape within and outside the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and assesses the pros and cons of the various approaches. It touches on a number of important considerations, such as the negotiating procedures, issues of accession, relationship to existing WTO rules and obligations, and dispute settlement. The paper also puts forward arguments as to why the WTO would provide the best forum to house such an agreement. The paper, produced by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), is part of a joint initiative on the promotion of sustainable energy, undertaken by the Global Green Growth Institute, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and ICTSD.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
This report summarizes the practices that NRDC found to be the top money-saving, environmental protection opportunities in Bangladesh, which largely overlap with the practices identified in China.
Renewable energy together with energy efficiency, sustainable transport, sustainable agriculture, sustainable tourism, green building and waste management are economic sectors which are often considered capable of paving the way for a transition to a green economy and providing win-win solutions offering job creation, poverty alleviation and environmental protection. However, there are a number of obstacles and challenges that might inhibit these sectors in their contribution towards greening the economy. These include limited knowledge and awareness relevant to green economy and green jobs, gaps in policy and regulations, limited financial incentives to support green initiatives, and related awareness and skill shortages.