This issue brief takes a detailed look at why such a large share of coal power is struggling today and the drivers—including subsidies—that may cause similar crises to rear their heads in future.

A shift away from using fossil fuels is a key enabler for the low-carbon transition necessary to achieve climate goals, but delivering this transformation has widespread repercussions across local communities. A just transition – one that captures a social, environmental and economic approach – is crucial.

In 2015, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement, governments committed to keeping global temperature increases to 2°C and to pursue efforts towards a more ambitious 1.5°C target.

G7 countries (and others around the world) are in the early stages of an energy transition – including, in some areas, a shift away from the production and consumption of fossil fuels. This transition is being driven by decarbonisation objectives and policies, as well as a sharp reduction in the cost of clean technologies.

This report examines the challenge of bringing power to over one billion people who live without electricity, mostly in remote, rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Under a business-as-usual scenario, almost 700 million people will still be without access to electricity in 2030, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The effectiveness of national energy policy will be decisive for achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Solar lamps and solar home systems are increasingly seen as a route to electrification in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Much of the population that would be served by such systems is vulnerable to climate variability and extremes.

This report provides an overview of the institutional, policy and financing landscape shaping Tanzania’s urban areas, and summarises some of the social, economic and environmental costs associated with current trends.