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Begin New Search Topic Energy Policy Political Geography Global Focus Content Type Policy Brief Publication Year within 3 Years Publication Year within 25 Years

1. PLUS Politics: Tackling the EIA Impact Gap

Author:
Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Oil, gas, and mining projects can be profoundly disruptive to lives and livelihoods and damaging to air, water, soil, and vegetation. Evidence of this abounds across the world, from the Niger Delta and the Gulf of Mexico to Brumadinho, Brazil, and Porgera, Papua New Guinea. Understanding and addressing the social and environmental repercussions of EI development projects is crucial for avoiding or effectively managing such negative outcomes and fostering sustainable development. To date, environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes have been the cornerstone of efforts to identify and address social and environmental impacts of proposed development projects, including extractive industry projects and associated infrastructure. In practice, however, crucial aspects of these processes — the production of EIAs, consultations around the findings and implications of reports, and the actual use of the content of reports to inform key project decisions — are at times considerably distorted by power and incentive dynamics rooted in the political economy of a given context. The result is too often watered-down “box-ticking” exercises in which the impact of the EIA process on actual social and environmental protection can be greatly reduced. Technocratic approaches that emphasize best practices and capacity will not improve the performance of EIA processes on their own. Politically savvy approaches are needed to address the political challenges associated with EIAs, as even the most technically sound and capacitated EIA processes can be derailed by political factors. This brief is based on a longer chapter on the topic produced for a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) publication on development corridors.1 It aims to present the gaps between various aspects of the theory and practice of EIAs, explore some of the ways in which political factors may be contributing to these gaps, and suggest how future work on social and environmental protection and management might better account for political context in hopes of achieving greater impact.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Oil, Natural Resources, Gas, and Mining
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Exploring Short-term Solutions to the Global Gas Crisis

Author:
Jun Arima, Hiroshi Hashimoto, Hussein Moghaddam, Yudo Dwinanda Priadi, and Alloysius Joko Purwanto
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
This brief explores short-term solutions for stabilising the global gas market so that the world can continue to recover amidst the Russia–Ukraine geopolitical crisis. The proposed solutions consist of (i) across-the-board ramping up of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production; (ii) supporting countries with idle capacities or delayed gas projects in regaining their capacity to produce and export gas, especially to the regions most in need; (iii) an emergency plan initiated by the G20 group to ‘reroute’ LNG cargoes to the world’s regions most in need with low purchasing power; (iv) optimising LNG cargo destinations by taking advantage of specific contractual agreements; (v) issuing statements that can help stabilise the short-term gas market; (vi) intensifying discussions on formulating potential short-term measures to mitigate excessive volatility in prices; and (vii) urgently establishing a universally accessible, real-time information platform on natural gas trade.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Natural Resources, Gas, and Energy Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Combining Technology-Push and Demand-Pull Policies to Create More and Better Energy Jobs

Author:
Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Christof Knoeri, Joern Hoppmann, and Volker H. Hoffmann
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Policymakers guiding their economies to a low-carbon, prosperous future must strike the right balance between technology-push and demand-pull. The rapid build-out of solar photovoltaics (PV) in recent years has revealed the benefits of generous demand-pull policies, but also their limits. Here, we show why combining robust demand-pull and technology-push policies results in more effective policy mixes that go beyond innovation and deployment to help competitive domestic industries create more and better jobs.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Science and Technology, Carbon Emissions, and Energy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Will Only a Green Power Remain a Great Power?

Author:
Marie Dejonghe
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
When the coronavirus broke out in 2020 the whole world literally came to a pause. The pandemic overshadowed all other major problems and started to shape relations between states. Climate change suddenly disappeared from the international agenda. However, the effects of the global climate crisis are showing faster and more severely than ever before: wildfires in Australia, extreme weather events in Asia, tornado’s in America, a melting Arctic... Secondary effects like climate migration and conflicts have become visible as well. This crisis is more urgent than ever. The COVID-19 crisis has shattered our economies, but lockdown measures taken by almost all governments have had a positive impact on the emission of greenhouse gases. The world took a step forward, even if unintended, towards the goals set in Paris in 2015. COVID-19 has taken away a lot from the world, but it may also have created a momentum to continue this downward trend and make it structural. Even the world’s great powers will have to integrate the green transition in their COVID-19 economy recovery plans in order to not fall off the wagon. But will only a green great power remain a great power?
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Green Technology, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Stuck in the Past: Lessons on Emissions for Developing Oil Producers

Author:
David Manley and David Mihalyi
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
As much of the world slowly moves into a low-carbon future, a group of countries are firmly stuck in a fossil-fuel past. These are mainly countries rich in fossil fuel resources. This is not only a problem for the global target to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases, but it puts these countries under a “carbon curse”. Under this curse, people pay more for energy, might be locked out of trading opportunities with countries with carbon taxes, and breath dirtier air. These fossil fuel-rich countries provide a lessons for developing countries with fossil fuels that are still to industrialize. These are countries that still have time to change direction to avoid being stuck in the past, and move into a more prosperous and cleaner future. Key messages Most economies are slowly decarbonizing, but the economies of high-income, fossil fuel-rich countries are not. This is the case whether examining production- or consumption-based emissions. Low-income, fossil fuel-rich countries can learn from the experience of wealthier fossil fuel-rich countries. Remaining on their current path could mean that low-income, fossil fuel-rich countries could face high energy costs, exclusion from export markets, and failure to meet future climate commitments.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Oil, Carbon Tax, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Tying Their Hands? How Petroleum Contract Terms May Limit Governments’ Climate Policy Flexibility

Author:
Nicola Woodroffe
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
The pathway to net-zero emissions will be a fraught one for many petroleum-dependent countries. Radical policy action is necessary to decarbonize the global economy , with significant economic implications for countries dependent on oil and gas revenues. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that global warming will exceed 1.5 and even 2 degrees Celsius without deep emissions cuts. At the same time, the International Energy Agency has proposed a freeze on new development approvals for oil and gas fields from 2021 if we are to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Current and emerging producers may want to go beyond merely reacting to foreign governments’ or international oil companies’ evolving climate policies – they may seek to proactively decarbonize and build climate resilience in their own petroleum sectors. Yet the long-term contracts governments sign with companies for petroleum exploration and production may significantly limit this flexibility for decades. Have producer countries begun to modify petroleum contract terms in response to climate change and energy transition risks? To explore this, the author of this briefing reviewed 34 contracts and model contracts from 11 countries, signed or issued since the Paris Agreement. This review focused on stabilization, arbitration, and force majeure clauses. The contracts reviewed do not yet indicate a shift in these clauses to respond to climate change risks, and the need for government flexibility to take climate policy action. Producer governments should reconsider traditional contract clauses and assess and adapt their petroleum sector legal framework to address energy transition and climate change risks.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Government, and Transparency
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. National Oil Companies and Climate Change: Insights for Advocates

Author:
Patrick Heller, Greg Muttitt, Alexandra Gillies, Paasha Mahdavi, David Manley, Valerie Marcel, Joachim Roth, Lourdes Melgar, Francisco J. Monaldi, and Angelo Picciariello
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
National oil companies are the “hidden half” of the global oil industry. The authors of this briefing write that climate and development advocates who seek to reduce fossil fuel supply and promote sustainable economies must engage with these state-owned companies, many of which are based in countries with high levels of poverty.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Oil, Natural Resources, and State-Owned Enterprises
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Navigating through hydrogen

Author:
Ben McWilliams and Georg Zachmann
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
Hydrogen is seen as a means to decarbonise sectors with greenhouse gas emissions that are hard to reduce, as a medium for energy storage, and as a fallback in case halted fossil-fuel imports lead to energy shortages. Hydrogen is likely to play at least some role in the European Union’s achievement by 2050 of a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target. However, production of hydrogen in the EU is currently emissions intensive. Hydrogen supply could be decarbonised if produced via electrolysis based on electricity from renewable sources, or produced from natural gas with carbon, capture, and storage. The theoretical production potential of low-carbon hydrogen is virtually unlimited and production volumes will thus depend only on demand and supply cost. Estimates of final hydrogen demand in 2050 range from levels similar to today’s in a low-demand scenario, to ten times today’s level in a high-demand scenario. Hydrogen is used as either a chemical feedstock or an energy source. A base level of 2050 demand can be derived from looking at sectors that already consume hydrogen and others that are likely to adopt hydrogen. The use of hydrogen in many sectors has been demonstrated. Whether use will increase depends on the complex interplay between competing energy supplies, public policy, technological and systems innovation, and consumer preferences. Policymakers must address the need to displace carbon-intensive hydrogen with low-carbon hydrogen, and incentivise the uptake of hydrogen as a means to decarbonise sectors with hard-to-reduce emissions. Certain key principles can be followed without regret: driving down supply costs of low-carbon hydrogen production; accelerating initial deployment with public support to test the economic viability and enable learning; and continued strengthening of climate policies such as the EU emissions trading system to stimulate the growth of hydrogen-based solutions in the areas for which hydrogen is most suitable.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, European Union, Carbon Emissions, Decarbonization, and Hydrogen
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

9. The Geopolitics of Renewable Hydrogen

Author:
Nicola De Blasio and Fridolin Pflugmann
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The transition to a low-carbon energy system will likely shake up the geopolitical status quo that has governed global energy systems for over a century. Policymakers need to rethink the role their country could play in a new energy world. Renewables are widely perceived as an opportunity to shatter the hegemony of fossil fuel-rich states and democratize the energy landscape. Virtually all countries have access to some renewable energy resources (especially solar and wind power) and could thus substitute foreign supply with local resources. Our research shows, however, that the role countries are likely to assume in decarbonized energy systems will be based not only on their resource endowment but also on their policy choices. Renewable hydrogen is enjoying growing political and commercial momentum as a versatile and sustainable energy carrier with the potential to play a key role in the global transition to a low-carbon economy; and it is often described as the ‘missing link’ in global decarbonization—especially for energy intensive sectors where emissions are hard to abate and electrification is not the preferred solution, such as steel production, high-temperature industrial heat, shipping, aviation, and heat for buildings. But making renewable hydrogen a significant part of the world’s future energy mix will require defining new and innovative national and international policies while developing appropriate market structures aimed at spurring innovation along value chains; scaling technologies while significantly reducing costs; and deploying enabling infrastructure at scale. Success is possible, but this transformational effort will require close coordination between policy, technology, capital, and society to avoid falling into the traps and inefficiencies of the past. Renewable hydrogen can be used for both mobility and stationary applications. As a sustainable mobility energy carrier, it can power fuel-cell electric vehicles or be the base for synthetic fuels. In stationary applications, it can be used to store renewable energy, both at utility scale or off-grid, providing backup to intermittent renewable energy sources and serving as a carbon-free heating source. From a geopolitical perspective, whether future renewable hydrogen energy systems will be as concentrated as today’s oil and gas supply or decentralized like renewables is strongly related to future market structures, technology, and enabling infrastructure availability.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, Science and Technology, Geopolitics, Renewable Energy, and Hydrogen
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Sustainable Mobility: Renewable Hydrogen in the Transport Sector

Author:
Nicola De Blasio, Charles Hua, and Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The transportation sector is the second-largest source of CO2 emissions, after electricity and heat generation, accounting for about 25 percent of global emissions.1 However, it is also one of the most challenging to decarbonize due to its distributed nature and the advantages of fossil fuels in terms of high energy densities, ease of transportation, and storage. Moreover, the degree of difficulty in decarbonizing varies significantly across the sector, making the challenge even more daunting. So far, emissions reduction strategies have focused on improving vehicle and system-wide efficiencies, mode switching, and electrification. The latter is proving relatively easy for smaller vehicles that travel shorter distances and carry lighter loads. However, sector-wide decarbonization pathways will require a transition to low-carbon fuels and the deployment of enabling infrastructure to support innovation at scale. Renewable hydrogen holds promise in sustainable mobility applications, whether by powering fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) like cars, trucks, and trains or as a feedstock for synthetic fuels for ships and airplanes. Fuel cells convert hydrogen-rich fuels into electricity through a chemical reaction. FCEVs use a fuel cell, rather than a battery, to power electric motors, and operate near-silently and produce no tailpipe emissions. Hydrogen-powered vehicles offer key advantages, including shorter refueling times, longer ranges, and a lower material footprint compared to lithium battery-powered alternatives. However, high costs of ownership and a lack of enabling infrastructure are key challenges that must be addressed through policy support, technological innovation, and financial investment. Hydrogen can complement existing efforts to electrify road and rail transportation and provide a scalable option for decarbonizing shipping and aviation. Figure 1 summarizes the mobility segments for which battery electric vehicles (BEVs), FCEVs, and vehicles running on bio- or hydrogen-based synthetic fuels are most applicable.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, Transportation, and Hydrogen
Political Geography:
Global Focus