Energy demand is projected to grow by a third in the next 15 years. A rapid scale-up of low-carbon energy sources and energy efficiency is essential to drive global growth, reduce the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) associated with fossil fuel use and help provide reliable access to modern energy for those who lack it. This need has become more urgent following the global commitment made in the UN Paris Agreement in December 2015 to reducing net GHG emissions to zero in the second half of the century. 

This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for investing in agriculture and natural resources management, with the goal of laying out next steps toward more efficient and sustainable land use in Mozambique. 

The costs of fossil fuel subsidies far outweigh the benefits when considering the full economic, social, and environmental impact of these subsidies in sub-Saharan Africa. If done right, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in sub-Saharan Africa will lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce air pollution, and create the fiscal space to provide access to energy and meet social development objectives. 

What happens to clean infrastructure finance when countries are big and fast-growing but have immature financial systems and a scarcity of long-term domestic investors? The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) compares two different financing models from middle income countries: the highly centralized model of Brazil and the decentralized model from India. 

Greater energy efficiency can benefit countries at all stages of development, but particularly fast-growing economies trying to achieve universal energy access with limited resources. By offering cost-effective opportunities to avoid new energy supply, energy efficiency is increasingly recognised as the “first fuel”. 

About US$90 trillion in infrastructure investment is needed globally by 2030 to achieve global growth expectations, particularly in developing countries. To achieve this, infrastructure investment needs to be both scaled up and climate objectives need to be integrated due to climate risks. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate recommends that G20 and other countries adopt key principles ensuring the integration of climate risk and climate objectives in national infrastructure policies and plans. 

Most sub-Saharan households cook using traditional biomass stoves, and 200 million more will do so by 2020. For maximum health and environmental benefits, policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa should aim to transform their countries’ cookstove markets to drive a large-scale shift from traditional biomass to stoves using clean fuels or electricity.  

The report recommends that parties to the Montreal Protocol approve an amendment to phase down the production and use of HFCs. In addition, countries that are not already working to phase down HFCs should begin developing and implementing domestic regulations to do so, while also increasing their appliance energy efficiency standards. Incorporating HFC production and consumption into the Montreal Protocol would provide significant near-term gains to slow climate change and could lead to avoiding 1.1–1.7 GtCO2e of annual GHG emissions per year by 2030. 

What happens to clean infrastructure finance when countries are big and fast-growing but have immature financial systems and a scarcity of long-term domestic investors? The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) compares two different financing models from middle income countries: the highly centralized model of Brazil and the decentralized model from India. While evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each model, the paper finds both countries end up with public financing dominating clean infrastructure projects with similar levels of leverage in both. 

A staggering one-third of all agricultural landscapes are now degraded, mostly in developing countries, and a net 12 million hectares (ha) continue to be degraded yearly. But commitment to change is growing. The report highlights significant regional achievements being implemented, such as Initiative 20×20, through which seven Latin American countries and partners have pledged to bring 20 million ha of land into restoration by 2020, and the Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Alliance, which aims to engage 6 million smallholders by 2021.