Nov 29, 2022
Climate policy has entered a new era as public investment is increasingly moving to center stage, including recovery spending and long-term climate investment plans. While essential for decarbonization, public investment is not enough – the carrots of investment need to go hand in hand with regulatory sticks. Public investment in clean technologies and infrastructure does not guarantee decarbonization outcomes. Yet, climate regulation, particularly high and comprehensive carbon prices, has remained elusive in the United States and many other parts of the world. Against this backdrop, the big public investment push offers a political opportunity of government leverage. Governments can tie climate requirements to public investment as part of a ‘green bargain.’ At the core of these arrangements is reciprocity – linking carrots to sticks – to ensure public investment leads to technological change and emission reductions. Drawing on the experience with ‘reciprocal control mechanisms’ in public investment among late industrializers, this paper advances our understanding of green bargains. It examines the historical precedents of green bargains, introduces a typology, and offers an empirical overview based on an original dataset of implemented and proposed green bargains. We then focus on the design choices related to leverage, scope, and accountability to make green bargains effective at technological learning and advancing decarbonization. The article concludes with a discussion of US and international policy fora that can serve as platforms to develop green bargains as public climate investments expand.
Oct 25, 2022
Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) currently contributes to millions of global premature deaths every year. Here, we assess the pollution and health futures in five 2015–2100 scenarios using an integrated modelling framework. On the basis of a global Earth System Model (GFDL-ESM4.1), we find lower ambient PM2.5 concentrations, both globally and regionally, in future scenarios that are less fossil fuel-dependent and with more stringent pollution controls. Across the five scenarios, the global cumulative PM2.5-related deaths vary by a factor of two. However, the projected deaths are not necessarily lower in scenarios with less warming or cleaner air. This is because while reducing PM2.5 pollution lowers the exposure level, increasing the size of vulnerable populations can significantly increase PM2.5-related deaths. For most countries, we find that changes in socio-demographic factors (for example, ageing and declining baseline mortality rates) play a more important role than the exposure level in shaping future health burden.
Jun 20, 2022
Declining levelized costs of renewable energy have become a driving force in supporting renewable energy in India; the levelized cost of wind and solar has plummeted to between 3.3¢/kWh and 4¢/kWh. However, limited research exists on the impacts of renewables on the finances of Indian distribution utilities. The present study examines the financial impact of incremental penetration of the hydro, solar, and wind alternative in the generation mix of the distribution company of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Using real-time 15-min interval data and a merit-order-dispatch model, the study quantifies the merit-order-effect and assess the potential savings from renewables. The results indicate that depending upon the penetration level under demand growth cases, renewable integration could lower the power purchase cost of Indian utilities by up to 11%. Wind produces most savings between 0.11¢/kWh and 2.71¢/kWh followed by solar −0.17¢/kWh and 2.56¢/kWh and hydro −0.32¢/kWh and 2.05¢/kWh. The savings will increase with rising electricity demand and plummeting costs of renewables. Integrating moderate levels of renewables no longer presents economic-environment trade-offs and can simultaneously meet multiple policy goals of energy affordability and environmental sustainability.
Jun 20, 2022
Energy access delivers broad socio-economic benefits, but few studies have examined how benefits are allocated within the household. Here we conduct a large-scale survey with 4,624 respondents across six Indian states to provide results on intra-household differences across multiple outcome dimensions of energy service, including knowledge, satisfaction, utilization and opinion. Using a Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) to measure household-level gender equality, we find that women in low-WEI households are less aware of energy services and use less electricity than their spouses. This awareness gap manifests in differences in satisfaction, as women in higher-WEI households show more concern with energy services and fuel sources. Overall, these results signify that the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach of providing energy access may not effectively meet the goal of sustainable energy for all. Bridging the gender gap through targeted information and learning campaigns that empower and educate women could unlock additional support for sustainable energy policies.
Jun 8, 2022
Given that climate change is one of the biggest risks facing the real economy as well as the financial industry, there is an urgent need to measure and manage this risk. One way to measure this risk is the carbon exposure of products and their corresponding supply chains. While the process of measuring and managing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions is well established, the same cannot be said of Scope 3 emissions. This article first provides an overview of frameworks for measuring and managing Scope 3 emissions in an ideal world, where product-level marginal emission factors are known with certainty. It then lays out the issues surrounding the measurement and management of uncertain Scope 3 emissions. It also discusses the progress made so far on these issues, provides recommendations, and lays out a research agenda for future work.
