Energy is a critical input into the production and consumption patterns that support economic and social wellbeing. However, many forms of energy use contribute to the environmental and climate challenges societies face today. Taxation is a key tool by which governments can influence energy use to contain its environmental impacts. This report provides a systematic analysis of the structure and level of energy taxes in OECD and selected other countries; together, they cover 80% of global energy use.
This report builds on the 2013 edition of Taxing Energy Use, expanding the geographic coverage of the 2013 data set to include Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa. The report describes energy use, taxation and pricing in these countries and presents detailed graphical profiles of the structure of energy use and taxation for each.
Shifting public and private investment from "brown" to "green" is an essential part of climate change. The post-2020 climate agreement to be agreed at COP 21 in December 2015 has the potential to play a significant role in signalling the importance of such a shift. This paper explores how the 2015 agreement could spur further mobilisation of climate finance by examining the current state of play regarding existing financing environments and mechanisms. These include examining the existing international institutional arrangements under the UNFCCC to see how balanced financing, co-ordination, streamlining and complementarity between institutions could be achieved. The paper also highlights the key role that in-country enabling environments can play in further mobilising public and private climate finance, and discusses how the 2015 agreement could enhance both "pull" and "push" factors for mobilisation. In addition, the paper also discusses how the agreement could facilitate the broad use of a spectrum of financial instruments and the further development of an enhanced system for measurement, reporting and verification of climate finance.
Produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with Tongji University, this Chinese-language textbook aims to inform China’s economic structural transformation and its move towards ecological civilization. It involved 21 authors from 10 national and international institutions, covering the theoretical, sectoral and policy dimensions of green economy with a specific focus on key issues of relevance to China. This book is supported by illustrative examples tailored to a Chinese audience and provides a systematic understanding of the inclusive green economy concept and its linkage to the Chinese concept of Ecological Civilization.
Placing Indonesia’s economy onto a green and sustainable development pathway, as envisaged in the National Long Term Development Plan, will require a large mobilization of investment. Estimates of the annual investment needed are in the order of US$300‐530 billion, with a large portion of this investment needed in critical infrastructure, as well as environmentally sensitive areas such as agriculture, forestry, energy, mining and waste. In addition, financing for SMEs and industry is critical for creating jobs and boosting productivity.
To date, there is still limited understanding of the broad landscape of private green finance in Indonesia. While some research has been conducted on sustainable financing in the banking sector, there has been relatively little systematic research into the specific features and flows of green finance from private capital markets, even though Indonesia has reasonably sophisticated financial institutions and markets. This study is therefore intended to contribute to the exploration of the state of green investment in Indonesia within the wider economic and financial sector context.