Research

Diminishing consumer demand coupled with more affordable renewables are casting doubt on the overall feasibility and potential profitability of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

At precisely the time in which the world must begin rapidly decarbonizing to avoid runaway climate disaster, the United States is moving further and faster than any other country to expand oil and gas extraction.

This report reveals the disconnect between Canada’s promises on climate change and the actions of its official export credit agency, Export Development Canada (EDC), in propping up the oil and gas industry.

The twin challenges of air pollution and climate change demand a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, and a particularly rapid phase-out of coal-fired power plants. Despite this, the Korean government continues to be among the biggest backers of coal-fired power plants around the world.

A new analysis of the energy finance provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB) shows that while financing for clean energy access has increased since the bank's landmark New Deal on Energy for Africa, support for off-grid and mini-grid solutions — often the fastest and most affordable energy access solutions — must accelerate if Africa is to realize universal energy access by 2030.

The IEA scenarios — including the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) — fall short of the Paris Agreement goals and therefore don’t actually answer the question investors are asking, namely: are companies prepared for a world that takes the Paris Agreement seriously? The SDS is not providing an effective stress test, nor a useful guide to how things may change.

Overall, the MDBs are not financing energy access at nearly a sufficient level to meet the needs of energy-poor communities. Much of the energy access finance that is being provided is being directed to many of the communities that need it most. But even so, energy access is not reflected as a priority for the MDBs.

As EBRD and EIB prepare for their respective energy sector strategy reviews, 65 civil society groups from 28 countries released an open letter being sent to top EBRD and EIB officials demanding that they stop financing oil, gas, and coal projects.

The letter calls on Brown and the state "to become the first major fossil fuel producer to begin a managed and just transition off oil and gas production."

This report aims to provide a picture of the public finance flowing to energy infrastructure in Africa from fiscal years 2014 through 2016. It covers development finance institutions including multilateral development banks, as well as the national development banks and export credit agencies of the countries providing the most public finance to energy in Africa.