The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The paper discusses challenges in analyzing the costs of household cooking methods (fuels and associated stove technologies) in lower-income countries, and sources of divergence between observed and true social costs. The challenges in assessing social costs include valuation of household time, impacts of credit constraints on stove selection, preferences for …
Limiting the rise in global mean temperature to well below 2°C would require an energy transition of exceptional scope, depth and speed, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency, including a doubling of annual average energy-related investments from current levels. As recent IEA estimates show, global energy-related CO2 …
This book proposes a simple framework for understanding the political economy of subsidy reform and applies it to four in-depth country studies covering more than 30 distinct episodes of reform. Five key lessons emerge. First, energy subsidies often follow a life cycle, beginning as a way to stabilize prices and …
Fuel prices, especially the prices of gasoline and diesel, shape our mobility patterns. Low fuel prices benefit motorized transport and encourage low energy efficiency technologies and wasteful behaviour. On the other hand, countries which price fuels at their real costs of production and furthermore apply fuel taxes can foster the …
The global stock of electric vehicles (EVs) reached 1 million in 2015 and exceeded 2 million by the end of 2016. Yet faster growth is needed for EVs to fulfil their role in the global energy transition, both through lowering vehicle emissions and boosting renewable energy use. This brief outlines …
Coal cost constitutes 60 to 70 percent of the total generation tariff of coal based power stations and has significant impact on cost of supply of power to consumers. Keeping this in view, a performance audit of fuel management in coal based power stations of NTPC Limited was taken up. …
Develops a cost-benefit analysis to compare the impact of three separate policies to spur the additional production of ultralow-carbon fuels in California: a contract-for difference price guarantee, a per-gallon subsidy, and upfront capital grants. Uses a cashflow model to estimate the amount of new production of qualifying fuels in California …
Develops a cost-benefit analysis to compare the impact of three separate policies to spur the additional production of ultralow-carbon fuels in California: a contract-for difference price guarantee, a per-gallon subsidy, and upfront capital grants. Uses a cashflow model to estimate the amount of new production of qualifying fuels in California …
This report reviews emerging and persistent issues for Asia and the Pacific, including the implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the SDG 7, focusing particularly on transboundary power trade for energy connectivity and energy access. As one of the three pillars …
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades, many governments will have to reform their energy policies. These policies are difficult to measure with any precision. As a result, it is unclear whether progress has been made towards important energy policy reforms, such as reducing fossil fuel subsidies. We …
Several studies have found that taxing vehicle purchase or ownership on the basis of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduces CO2 emissions. This paper shows that CO2-based vehicle taxation can raise emissions of other pollutants that harm air quality and that the magnitude of this unintended effect depends on consumer substitution …
This study conducts a detailed analysis of the compensation mechanisms that could be used to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on weak and vulnerable segments of Nigerian society. The study suggests actionable proposals that the government could pursue if it decides that it must mitigate the social impact …
Diesel engines power the dominant share of goods movement, construction equipment, and public transport vehicles in the global economy. This report presents a global strategy to reduce fine particulate (PM2.5) and black carbon emissions from the global fleet of on-road diesel vehicles. The strategy identifies 36 countries for immediate action. …
A new World Bank study outlines how Sub-Saharan Africa’s struggling power utilities can be financially viable and at the same time make electricity access affordable for the poor. Currently, only one in three Africans has access to electricity and for those who do, power outages can be common as cash-strapped …
As India’s energy demand is propelled by the needs and aspirations of its billion plus residents, concerns about India’s energy security have risen on account of increasing energy import dependence. At the same time, energy security should also be seen in the wider context of India’s unique challenges that must …
The COP-21 meeting in Paris produced an important result. For the first time all countries developed and developing agreed to take some mitigation action. However even if all countries deliver on what they have promised by 2030 and progress thereafter continues only at the same rate global temperature is likely …
A new report carried out within the EU research project Towards 2030 explores the necessary conditions for a potential ‘phase-out’ of economic support for mature renewable technologies that is compatible with the levels of deployment required to reach the defined EU target of at least 27% renewables in 2030. The …
A new report carried out within the EU research project Towards 2030 explores the necessary conditions for a potential ‘phase-out’ of economic support for mature renewable technologies that is compatible with the levels of deployment required to reach the defined EU target of at least 27% renewables in 2030. The …
The annual Tracking Clean Energy Progress (TCEP) report highlights the development and deployment of key clean energy technologies year on year. An excerpt of the publication Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP), which lays out pathways towards a sustainable energy system in 2050, this comprehensive overview tracks the evolution of select technologies …
Unsustainable budgetary cost of selling oil, gas, and coal at low prices has propelled energy subsidy reform in developing Asian economies. This report measures the size of associated subsidies on these fossil fuels including direct transfers, tax exemptions, subsidized credit, and losses of state enterprises in India, Indonesia, and Thailand. …
