In the pursuit of sustainable development and climate resilience, off-grid solar electric cooking (e-cooking) technologies is a dual solution encompassing both climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Globally, cooking with biomass amounts for as much as 2% of CO2 emissions. Given the rapid advances and price reductions in solar e-cooking technologies, there is an opportunity to scale these solutions to […]

In this third edition of “Regulatory Barriers for ESCOs”, 25 ESCO associations have provided comprehensive answers to 15 questions that illuminate different aspects of regulatory barriers for ESCOs. The formulation of the questions was informed and inspired by interviews that were conducted in 2021 for the first edition of this publication, where focused interviews with 10 ESCO associations served as […]

This report was developed in support of the 2024 Emissions Gap Report (EGR) of UNEP. It provides the analysis and findings that are used as background for the development of Chapter 6 of the EGR 2024: “Bridging the gap: Sectoral transformations, benchmarks, potentials, and needed investments”. The report addresses two critical questions: can the emissions gap identified for 2030 and […]

Over time and through an iterative process, collective learnings and practical insights from the global- and country- level work on TNAs have informed and enriched the TNA methodology, including through growing guidance3 available to countries and implementation actors. Today, the TNA process has evolved into a step-by-step process that goes beyond technology needs and is geared towards enabling technology implementation […]

The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report provides an annual science-based assessment of the global progress on adaptation planning, financing, and implementation. It also explores options for enhancing and advancing national and global adaptation efforts and provides an in-depth analysis of selected issues of interest. In addition to the update on adaptation planning and implementation, the 2023 edition provides a more in-depth […]

The development, transfer, diffusion, and uptake of technologies to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change are essential to the response to the rapidly escalating problem of climate change. However, while the role of technologies is increasingly recognized, the degree to which technologies are deployed and barriers and enabling conditions for the development, transfer, diffusion, and uptake of […]

In this second edition of “Regulatory Barriers for ESCOs”, 19 ESCO associations have provided comprehensive answers to 15 questions that illuminate different aspects of regulatory barriers for ESCOs. The formulation of the questions was informed and inspired by interviews that were conducted in 2021 for the first edition of this publication, where focused interviews with 10 ESCO associations served as […]

This policy brief provides answers to two questions.  First, why energy efficiency investments continue to represent a marginal share of green investment volumes, even though energy efficiency improvements are among the most prominent investment categories in green finance taxonomies.  Second, what corrective actions governments can take, especially with regard to developing-country supply chains. The intended primary audiences of this document […]

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), electrification through decentralized renewables-based solutions (particularly solar PV) has advanced significantly over the past decade. Going forward, this transition to clean energy has a significant potential in addressing integrated challenges including access to energy, job creation, skills development and local economic development (IRENA, 2019, 2020). Maximizing local benefits from this clean energy transition is important for […]

Ghana is one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, with the transport sector playing a key strategic role in its growth and development. Despite the steady economic growth over the last two decades, Ghanaian cities, in particular, seem not to have benefited from the full dividends that accrue to the urbanization process. This may be due to challenges associated with the current […]