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This anylitical report underlines the increasingly positive role renewable energies are playing towards an increasingly low-carbon electricity and power supply that can build the confidence of nations to adopt a meaningful new agreement in Paris 2015. It covers the following subjects: investment by type of economy; putting sustainable energy into perspective; towards a cost-competitive clean energy; sources of investment; asset finance; small distributed capacity; public markets; venture capital and private equity; rsearch and development and acquisition activity.

This analytical report is a summary for policymakers. It considers the vulnerability and exposure of human and natural systems, the observed impacts and future risks of climate change, and the potential for and limits to adaptation. The chapters of the report assess risks and opportunities for societies, economies, and ecosystems around the world.

This analytical report confirms that 2013 tied with 2007 as the sixth warmest on record, continuing the long-term global warming trend, and highlights that 13 of the 14 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century. The document also provides short synopses of the status of the climate in different regions, and describes the impacts of continuing and increasing global warming on the regions, including increased incidences of extreme weather events, as well as the loss of lives and livelihoods caused by these events. The statement includes a list and description of major weather and climate events around the world in 2013, such as Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) which devastated parts of the Philippines, and the severe floods in the Alps and various European countries. It also contains a case study into the record hot Australian summer of 2012/13 and record hot calendar year of 2013, concluding that the record hot summer “was about five times as likely as a result of human-induced influence on cliimate” and that the record hot calendar “would have been virtually impossible without human contributions of heat-trapping gases.”

This analytical report highlights disaster risk management (DRM) in the region Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The report identifies urbanization and associated increased flood risk, water scarcity and impacts of climate change as the main challenges facing the region. The report includes sections on: natural disasters in the MENA region; regional progress; World Bank DRM programming in the MENA Region; and proposed way forward. The report includes examples from a range of countries, including: Algeria, Djibouti, Lebanon, Morocco, and Yemen.

This manual sets basic standards for open source creation and communication of disaster and climate change information. It builds on the World Bank’s Open Data initiative and seeks to: improve disaster and climate change resilience; ensure streamlined data sharing and collaboration among government agencies, the private sector, academia and civil society; and encourage data collaboration with humanitarian efforts. The Guide draws on a number of projects which provide tools to empower both governments and communities to develop mitigation strategies for storms, flooding, droughts and other natural hazards.

This analytical report examines some of the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. It describes possible solutions in the context of a wider transition to an inclusive Green Economy, which is vital to achieving the emerging post-2015 sustainable development agenda. The report seeks to improve knowledge about how REDD+ initiatives and a Green Economy transition can better inform each other and contribute towards poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

This fact sheet presents data on the presence of green technologies for climate change mitigation in the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), presents several opportunities for green technology development in the area and provides an overview of what is already currently done by the agency region to promote green technologies.

This activity report presents the results of the a workshop which took place in Warsaw, Poland, on 12 November 2013, during the 39th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 39). Presentations from representatives of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) set the scene for the discussions by highlighting the scientific aspects of adaptation and adaptation co-benefits from a global perspective. They also outlined the challenges, opportunities and success stories regarding the practical implementation of adaptation and identification of co-benefits.

This analytical report considers sustainability impacts of scaling up production of biofuels for transport in contexts of varied industrial development in Mozambique, Argentina and Ukraine. It investigates land availability as well as environmental, social and economic impacts of biofuels projects, and offers best practice recommendations in over a dozen areas.

This toolkit have been developed to complement the products and results of the research project “Global assessment and guidelines for sustainable liquid biofuel production in developing countries”. The project was funded by the GEF and carried out by three UN agencies (UNEP/DTIE, FAO, UNIDO) in collaboration with several research institutes. The aim was to enable the GEF and other institutions to set clear policies and identify priorities for future work and investments in biofuel-related projects.

This case study presents how Brasil has tackle the issue of renwable energies. Many biomass cogeneration plants and small hydropower plants are already in operation in Brazil, and more are under construction. Brazil met the challenge of connecting those plants to the grid by devising a shared transmission system that allocates transmission costs among providers of renewable energy and allows providers to incorporate those costs into their bids for supply contracts. The process has built the confidence of renewable energy developers by providing certainty about the interconnection and the energy contracting processes.

This analytical report presents strategies to connect renewable energy generating site to the grid. Connecting generating sites to the grid is an obstacle to the scale-up of renewable energy. Investments in transmission are often made in response to individual requests for interconnection from project developers. But isolated efforts to connect dispersed resources usually turn out to be more expensive than if the full set of planned sites had been considered up front. Only proactive planning, undertaken with a view to maximizing the efficiency of the overall network, can keep costs and connection delays to a minimum.

This case study presents how Mexico has tackled the issue of renewable energy. Mexico’s la Ventosa region has ample wind resources but is remote. The national electric utility would not build the lines needed to transmit la Ventosa’s electricity to the grid without assurances that developers would follow through on their generating plans. But developers could not obtain needed financing in the absence of a guaranteed transmissionnetwork. To break the deadlock, the country conceived a planning process that yields a shared transmission network funded jointly by developers.

This analytical report prsents the evolution of the CO2 emissions of the energy sector. The energy sector contributes about 40 percent of global emissions of CO2. Three-quarters of those emissions come from six major economies. Although coal-fired plants account for just 40 percent of world energy production, they were responsible for more than 70 percent of energy-sector emissions in 2010. Despite improvements in some countries, the global CO2 emission factor for energy generation has hardly changed over the last 20 years.

This case studiy presents how Texas tackles the issue of renwable energy. Texas leads the United states with 9,528 mw of installed wind power capacity—a level exceeded by only four countries. The state needed more infrastructure to transmit electricity generated from renewable sources, but the regulator could not approve transmission expansion projects in the absence of financially committed generators. To solve the problem, Texas devised a planning process that quickly connects energy systems to the transmission system. The system is based on the designation of “competitive renewable energy zones.”

This manual is targeted to agricultural development professionals who need better information on the ways in which men and women adapt to and mitigate climate change and how best to address their needs when supporting the development of climate-resilient rural communities.

This is the second edition of the document.

This guidance document illustrates IFAD’s experience in closing the gender gap and mobilizing the “gender advantage” in climate change adaptation through ten case studies from accross the world. The case studies show that gender-sensitive adaptation results in better livelihood options and incomes, improved yields, more food security and reduced workloads for women an d their families. They also show that women and men are better able to make informed decisions about their lives, thus balancing their human development priorities when giving attention to sustainable resource management.

This analytical report argues for a bold re-imagining of prevailing models in order to steer the ongoing city transitions towards greater sustainability based on a thorough review of all available options, including a close look on climate change challenges and opportunities. That is especially the case since the already daunting urban challenges in Africa are now being exacerbated by the new vulnerabilities and threats associated with climate and environmental change.

This analytical report indicates that the emissions gap (the difference between emissions reductions pledged and those required to keep warming below 2°C) and the adaptation gap (the difference between funding and capacity levels required for adaptation and the amount committed) are both increasing. Bridging these gaps requires making progress on funding, knowledge, technology, capacity and trust among countries. The paper underlines that as governments work toward a universal climate agreement, staying below 2°C warming requires global emissions peaking before 2020 and sharply declining after 2020. It is stressed out in the report that achieving this depends on, inter alia, limiting growth in energy demand, improving energy efficiency, increasing renewable energy use, and minimizing emissions from land-use change.

This booklet sets out a vision of the 21st century city, recommends nine principles for achieving sustainable urban development, and proposes a policy and legislative framework for a new urban paradigm. It also aims to raise awareness about links between urbanization and global development challenges such as poverty and climate change.