This HelpDesk Report is based on a rapid review of publicly available information and documents. It collates and analyses the energy results indicators of selected multilateral donors, independent evaluations, and approximate spend, to inform the economic infrastructure assessment of the DFID Multilateral Aid Review.

This paper evaluates the emerging green economy in South Africa, using ideas from the concept of sustainable rural livelihoods, which are intimately connected to ecological services many developing countries. It finds that African communities and governments are prioritising green economy for job creation, poverty alleviation and reducing inequalities, while addressing global environmental concerns. What remains problematic, however, is how these objectives are to be achieved.

Economic growth is needed across Africa to tackle poverty, but countries cannot disregard the adverse impact of growth on the environment. Green growth aims to eliminate the dichotomy that traditionally exists between the economy and the environment. It is a model of economic development that reduces environmental risks by managing natural resources more efficiently and effectively and adopting cleaner production methods. Green growth is also about redistributing wealth and supporting the poor.

This publication outlines the challenges of investing in low-carbon and climate-resilient technologies and activities (“green market segments”) in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, explores how guarantees  can respond to those challenges, and provides various examples of guarantees used in region. It is based on an empirical analysis of examples of the use of guarantees, and thus focuses mainly on the use of credit guarantees for green market segments.

This report argues that smart development policies and projects can also slow the pace of adverse climate changes and that the objectives of economic development and climate protection can compliment one another. It uses new modelling tools to examine the range of benefits ambitious climate mitigation policies can produce across the transportation, industry and building sectors in the United States, China, the European Union, India, Mexico and Brazil. It also describes the multiple benefits of four development project simulations scaled up to the national level.

With a focus on the small Vietnam city of Hue, the ‘Sustainable urban tourism through low carbon initiatives’ project, led by the Asian Institute of Technology, Chiang Mai Municipality and the Hue Centre for International Cooperation, explored how the carbon footprint of tourism could be reduced, while maintaining and even enhancing local development benefits.

This report highlights the potential synergies between REDD+ and the transition to a Green Economy. It provides a summary of the elements which it argues are necessary for integrating REDD+ into a Green Economy. It provides policymakers with ideas for supporting economic development while maintaining or increasing forest cover. It argues that REDD+ can add important momentum for those promoting a Green Economy, especially complimenting pro-poor strategies.

China and India are heavily dependent on high carbon fossil fuels. This article elaborates on the implications of low carbon energy transitions in the two countries, which can mitigate their serious contribution to climate change while allowing economic growth. Three modelling case studies are presented: for the Chinese power sector; the economy of Beijing; and rural Indian households without access to electricity. They demonstrate a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, while costs are likely to increase.

Based on more than 40 interviews with energy sector CEOs and senior executives, as well as the 2012 Energy Sustainability Index, this 4th edition of the World Energy Trilemma report attempts to identify and describe what industry executives believe they need from policymakers. The report acknowledges that executives and policymakers urgently need to work together in order to achieve a transition to a sustainable energy system. Key to this report are the three dimensions of energy sustainability: energy security, social equity and environmental impact mitigation.

Intended to inform decision-makers in the public, private and third sectors, this policy paper finds that following a two degrees Celsius path requires radical action in both developed and developing countries and that the overall pace of change is ‘recklessly slow’. According to the authors, the transition to a low carbon and resource-efficient economy should be based on equitable access to sustainable development, as well as recognition that rich countries have a responsibility to support the transition of developing countries.