The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNEP Risø Centre (URC) December’s newsletter includes stories on the Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project and electrification in Africa, including efforts within the Sustainable Energy For All Initiative (SE4ALL). The newsletter also features several stories on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), including capacity building projects in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region.
The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank report, which is based on analyses in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and South Africa, finds that many of the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction measures pay themselves back, while ambitious global action to reduce technology costs, scale up private sector financing, and provide climate financing is still required.
The study covers both developed and developing countries, paying special attention to barriers to low-carbon, climate resilient (LCR) infrastructure in low-income nations due to basic banking services, lack of non-bank financial services, weak risk management capacity, and limited availability of long-term funding.
The reports highlight that improving energy efficiency in operations, products and services, and the increased use of renewable energy are key priority action areas for business to support the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, while they also emphasize that industry-wide standards should be developed as well as new financing mechanisms to overcome risks associated with the suggested action areas.
ICAO reports on initiatives focused on four key areas, including on: States’ action plans and assistance to States; sustainable alternative fuels for aviation; market-based measures; and global aspirational goals. The submission to the UNFCCC presented by IMO highlights that its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) has been considering as part of its agenda actions to address GHG emissions from ships engaged in international trade.
A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) Implementing Agreement for co-operation on Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Technologies and Programmes (IA-HEV) offers a snapshot of hybrid and electric vehicles (H&EVs) around the world, and explores global growth in the H&EV market in 2011, reporting sales of 1.2 million electric vehicles, including e-bikes and scooters, and 2.5 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in that year.
Although air transport currently represents only 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions, traffic is expected to increase at an annual average rate of 4.5% over the next 20 years, which will put tremendous pressure on the sector to find ways to maintain and ultimately reduce its impact on climate change.