The report Survival Options: Ecological Footprint in the Arab Countries examines sustainability choices in Arab countries, based on a survey of people's demand of natural capital and available supply.
Albania’s energy consumption per capita and its CO2 emissions per capita are low, but due to outdated technologies in many sectors energy intensity is still high. Concerning energy supply, the share of renewable energy sources has contributed about 18–22 per cent of the primary energy balance, but the main role has been played by oil products, electricity, fuel woods and LPG.
Although Albania has a relatively comprehensive legislative framework governing energy politics and climate change comprising a wide range of topics, it still lacks legislation in some areas (energy conservation, renewable energy). The most important document for green growth is the (updated) National Energy Strategy. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration (MoEFWA), is the government body responsible for environmental issues and policy.
This report aims at providing the emerging lessons from a representative sample of case studies in 20 developing countries that could help policy makers to address implementation challenges, including overcoming political economy and affordability constraints. The sample has selected on the basis of a number of criteria, including the country's level of development (and consumption), developing country region, energy security and the fuel it subsidies (petroleum fuel, electricity, natural gas).
Technological innovation can lower the cost of achieving environmental objectives, so it is important to understand how environmental policy design and technological innovation are linked. This is particularly true in the area of climate change where the estimated future costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions are affected greatly by the technological trajectory of the economy. While we suspect that public policy can play an important role in accelerating the development and diffusion of climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies, empirical evidence in this area remains scant. This book presents a series of papers that explore the extent to which technological innovation can lower the cost of achieving climate change mitigation objectives.
In many OECD countries, governments have invested large amounts of public money to support renewable energy (RE) development and are requiring significant quantities of it to be sold by energy providers. But what are the economic impacts of these policies on the rural regions where deployment takes place? How can RE bring the greatest benefit to host regions?
These are some of the questions explored by this study. Drawing on case studies in 16 regions within 10 countries, the research finds that while RE indeed represents an opportunity for stimulating economic growth in rural communities, its development benefits are not automatic.
Realising them requires a complex and flexible policy framework and a long-term strategy, as well as a realistic appreciation of the potential gains from RE deployment. Making a positive connection between RE development and local economic growth will require more coherent strategies, the right set of local conditions, and a place-based approach to deployment.
For the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean, renewable energy technologies (RETs) will become increasingly important in the face of high fossil fuel costs.