Posts tagged Easwaran Narassimhan
South-South Coal: If Recipient Countries Go Green, so Would the BRI
South-South Coal: If Recipient Countries Go Green, so Would the BRI

China’s recent pledge to achieve ‘net-zero’ emissions by 2060 garnered much international attention. Europe and Japan are already committing to net zero targets that phase out most coal usage by 2030, and a re-entry of the United States into the Paris Agreement will mean greater pressure on China to exit from coal. China’s top academic experts are suggesting the country’s coal use needs to fall to 5 percent or less by 2050, unless coupled with carbon capture and storage. While China’s pledge covers emissions within its own territory, it continues to accumulate a major footprint overseas with its financing of coal-fired power plants. China’s external financing of coal is likely to face greater scrutiny as well with a growing number of countries and international institutions pledging to stop the funding of coal projects.

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Climate SmartClimate Policy LabRishikesh Ram Bhandary, Easwaran Narassimhan, Fang Zhang, 2020, China, China BRI, coal, China Belt and Road Initiative, Paris Agreement, net zero, carbon capture, climate finance, national development banks, South-South, energy transition, electricity reform
Scaling Up Solar Pumps for Irrigation and Domestic Water Use in Ethiopia: The Role of Blended Finance
Scaling Up Solar Pumps for Irrigation and Domestic Water Use in Ethiopia: The Role of Blended Finance

In its announcement of the award of the 2020 Nobel Prize to the World Food Program, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said it wished “to turn the eyes of the world towards millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger.” The issue of food security is increasingly a priority for governments in the developing world, leading to growing attention to sustainable agriculture methods and the potential for blended finance, that is a combination of government and private sector infrastructure funding, to facilitate progress. Our latest policy brief from Climate Policy Lab discusses the role blended finance can bring in promoting sustainable irrigation systems, highlighting the benefits in a case study of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.

The government of Ethiopia has targeted the agricultural sector for market-led growth and rural transformation to build resilience to climate change and foster economic growth. Agriculture dominates Ethiopia’s economy, representing 40% of GDP and 75% of workforce employment. Only approximately 250,000 hectares of agricultural land out of a potential of 5 million are irrigated in Ethiopia at present. Many small farms grow teff and other rain-fed subsistence crops using manual labor and animals. As part of Ethiopia’s ambition to become a middle-income country by 2030, improvement of efficiency in the agriculture sector is critical.

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Climate Policy LabEaswaran Narassimhan, Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, 2020, Ethiopia, solar pumps, blended finance, sustainable agriculture, green climate fund, solar, climate finance, irrigation, water scarcity