This report discusses the current situation of the energy efficiency sector in India, delves into some of the causes hindering the development of this market and explains why the lack of commercial bank financing is one of the main barriers for attaining higher energy savings. The discussion then moves to proposing two innovative business models to overcome this funding barrier. The first model is a bespoke financing protocol that would serve as a blueprint for banks to reduce perceived risks, learn how to appraise energy savings as cash flows to back loans, and launch energy efficiency as a new credit line. The second proposal is a business model for energy efficiency deal aggregation as a viable strategy for banks to deleverage their balance sheet while creating a broader investor base for energy efficiency projects.
In its role as risk manager, risk carrier and investor, insurance is at the heart of a sustainable financial system. Initiatives to harness insurance for sustainable development are picking up momentum – and 2015 represents a critical opportunity to think ahead about the priorities for scaling up action. International milestones on disaster risk reduction, finance for development, new sustainable development goals and a new climate change agreement provide the context for strategic reflection on the policies and partnerships necessary to realise the full potential of insurance.
This report presents a suite of options that could strengthen the alignment between the insurance industry and sustainable development through to 2030. Insurance firms and regulators have identified a set of interlocking priorities for insurance looking forward to 2030, such as natural disasters, access to insurance, climate change, socio-economic disruptions and long-term investment.
This report includes illustrative case studies on the Obama Administration’s efforts in a number of key countries—Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Morocco, Oman, and Peru—in which USTR and the U.S. Department of State have had intensive engagement on environmental issues in recent years. Presenting unique opportunities and challenges, each country has required a tailored approach. Its objective in each, however, has been the same—to ensure that increased trade goes hand in hand with increased environmental protection.
Natural resources are the foundation of economic development. This report reveals the patterns and the evolution of natural resource use with 118 indicators in 26 countries of the Asia and the Pacific region over the last 40 years. The analysis shows that resource use in the region is both inefficient and unsustainable. The Asia-Pacific region will not be able to base its future economic growth on declining costs of natural resources as was possible during most of the twentieth century. An increasing reliance on resources from abroad and volatility in the global resource markets will pose challenges to the economic resilience of countries in the region. In this new economic context resource efficiency and decoupling of economic growth and resource use will be fundamental to the economic success of the region. The knowledge generated by this report helps to improve the understanding of the natural resource use and emissions consequences of economic growth in Asia and the Pacific to support policy formulation, monitoring and policy evaluation in the countries of the region.
This report summarises the main insights from the 2015 Global Climate Legislation Study. It is the fifth edition in a series dating back to 2010. The 2015 edition covers 98 countries plus the EU, up from 66 in 2014, which together account for 93 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The study is intended as a source of information for legislators, researchers and policy-makers. It is hoped that parliaments considering climate change legislation will benefit from the growing body of experience reflected in the study. Facilitating knowledge exchange among parliamentarians was one of the primary motivations behind the Climate Legislation Study when the series was conceived by the Grantham Research Institute, LSE and GLOBE International in 2010.
The Trade in Wildlife: A framework to improve biodiversity and livelihood outcomes, provides a framework to analyse the impact of the wildlife trade on conservation and local livelihoods.