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41. Building the Banking Sector’s Capacity for Green Infrastructure Investments for a Low-Carbon Economy

Author:
Takashi Hongo and Venkatachalam Anbumozhi
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
The construction of green infrastructure, using advanced technology and retiring inefficient technology, is essential for the low-carbon transition. Various green infrastructure programs are being implemented, and banks play an important role in facilitating these programs. Many lessons have been learned in improving finance for green infrastructure: (i) measurement, reporting, and verification is a useful tool for identifying green infrastructure investment; but just reduction is not enough for Green Infrastructure and three requirements – carbon dioxide emission reductions, improving energy access, and contributions to sustainable economic growth – connected with the Sustainable Development Goals are necessary; (ii) banks can contribute to realising a positive cycle of cost reduction and diffusion of advanced technology for reducing costs by scaling up markets; and (iii) carbon pricing is essential for removing carbon externalities and making green infrastructure commercially viable. Banks are recommended to have long-term strategies, improve their capacity for scenario analysis, have more dialogue with industry, and develop innovative finance such as carbon markets. Governments are recommended to adopt carbon pricing to encourage finance for green infrastructure.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Infrastructure, Green Technology, Renewable Energy, and Banking
Political Geography:
Global Focus

42. Powering the Globe: Lessons from Southeast Asia for China’s Global Energy Interconnection Initiative

Author:
Edmund Downie
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:
China’s Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) initiative presents a transformational vision for meeting the world’s growing power demand with a globally interconnected electricity grid. The concept involves ultra-high-voltage transmission lines strung across vast distances and smart grid technology tapping large-scale renewable power sources. Chinese President Xi Jinping first touted GEI’s goal to “facilitate efforts to meet the global power demand with clean and green alternatives” at the UN General Assembly in 2015. The ambition of the GEI vision is enormous, especially since there is very little cross-border trade in electricity around the world today. Regional electricity integration initiatives championed by development banks and multilateral organizations have largely struggled against the formidable political, economic and technical complications that accompany interstate electricity trade. China has seen these challenges firsthand in its participation in the Asian Development Bank’s Greater Mekong Subregion electricity trade endeavor, which has progressed fitfully since the 1990s amid regional infrastructure gaps and uneven political support from member states. This report, prepared as part of the Belt and Road Initiative series published by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, uses a case study of power trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion to assess the prospects for GEI in catalyzing energy integration around the world. It discusses why Greater Mekong Subregion integration has been slow, how GEI might help accelerate interconnection in the area, and what lessons the region offers for understanding the overall outlook for GEI. Based on this study, the author finds the following: Establishing a GEI-style global energy grid backbone by 2070 would require overcoming an extraordinary set of political challenges. The global grid outlined by GEI for the coming decades serves more as a demonstration of technical potential than a strict blueprint to be implemented. The limited scale attained thus far by the Greater Mekong Subregion project for grid integration and cross-border electricity trading demonstrates the headwinds such multinational efforts can face. Weak internal power sector development in recent decades has left some member states without the generation surpluses and robust power grids necessary to support meaningful levels of trade. In addition, power trade requires a strong degree of interstate political trust, motivated engagement by national utilities, and support from civil society players for the specific generation and transmission projects involved. Integration backers have historically struggled to build consensus across this diverse array of stakeholders. While enormous generation and transmission infrastructure projects are core components of the GEI vision and dovetail with the interests of China’s domestic proponents, considerable debate persists about their merits for fostering the renewables transition. Ultra-high-voltage transmission, a specialty of Chinese utilities, is a particular flashpoint. State interest in cross-border trade has been increasing across many regions in recent years, and more gradual gains in power trade around the world that can aid the renewable transition and bolster regional solidarity are possible. China can contribute greatly to this process: as an investor and contractor in grid projects abroad, as a member state of integration initiatives in Asia, and as an advocate of grid integration in international fora. GEI’s ultimate impact will depend in part on how advocates within China reconcile tensions between strengthening cross-border power trade and promoting domestic priorities, such as advancing the country’s own industrial policy objectives.
Topic:
Climate Change, United Nations, Infrastructure, Green Technology, and Electricity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

43. PART I: How Auctions Helped Solar Become the Cheapest Electricity in the World

Author:
Benjamin Attia, Shayle Kann, and Morgan D. Bazilian
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
The global energy transition has reached an inflection point. In numerous markets, the declining cost of solar photovoltaics (PV) has already beaten the cost of new-build coal and natural gas and is now chasing down operating costs of existing thermal power plants, forcing a growing crowd of thermal generation assets into early retirement. Perfect comparability between dispatchable and non-dispatchable resources invites debate, but the cost declines in solar PV are irrefutable: the global average unit cost of competitively-procured solar electricity declined by 83 percent from 2010 to 2018. This is due in part to module cost reductions of approximately 90 percent, capacity-weighted average construction cost declines of 74 percent, and a global paradigm shift in renewable energy procurement policies in the last six years.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Electricity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

44. Infrastructure in a Changing World: Trends and Challenges

Author:
Carlo Secchi and Alberto Belladonna
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
In a world on the brink of a global recession caused by COVID-19, the Infrastructure efforts of today and tomorrow are more crucial than ever. They are an indispensable countercyclical tool to mitigate the negative effects of the economic paralysis. But they also constitute a pivotal component of a country’s development and competitiveness in the long term. That is why infrastructure will continue to play a critical role even when the pandemic crisis has been tamed. Rapid demographic growth, increasing urbanization, especially in developing countries, coupled with the mounting climate change are challenges that won’t disappear with the virus. These significant challenges will come with equally difficult questions. How to cope with these long-term trends? How to finance the increasing need of infrastructure? Which major international actors will take the lead? And finally, what role will technology play in shaping the future of infrastructure efforts?
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Strategic Competition, COVID-19, and Recession
Political Geography:
Global Focus

45. Critical infrastructure in the shaping of national security

Author:
Ewa Żaboklicka
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Security and Defence Quarterly
Institution:
War Studies University
Abstract:
Critical infrastructure plays a key role in ensuring the national security of a state, due to important functions thereof in military, economic, and public administration sectors. The destruction, damage, failure or other deprivation of critical infrastructure of its operational capabilities constitutes a direct threat to the structural and personal security of the state. The research methods and techniques implemented in the research process itself primarily hinge on critical analysis of acts of law and organisational and competence-related documents, subject-matter literature, synthesis and inference in order to reach the formulated objectives based on efficiency criteria. The main findings indicate that critical infrastructure is perceived as a set of systems which exerts a substantial impact on the security of the state and, obviously, its inhabitants. The results advocate for a reflection that critical infrastructure embraces a number of facilities which appear to be remarkably diverse. They are buildings, structures, installations, equipment and services which, integrally, form cohesive systems which allow the proper functioning of a given state. It is the state whose role is just to supervise and coordinate, whereas the operators of critical infrastructure are the ones who are to protect it. The overall findings of this paper present the notion that safeguarding critical infrastructure is a task of crucial importance to the national security of a state and, therefore, it would be worth reconsidering the intensification of rules which apply to the infrastructure of national security and its efficient functioning.
Topic:
Security, National Security, Infrastructure, and Crisis Management
Political Geography:
Global Focus

46. Policy Papers by Women of Color: Diverse Voices on Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear Security, and Global Health Security Policy

Author:
Wardah Amir, Sara Z. Kutchesfahani, Jennyfer Ambe, Rahwa Osman, Seema Gahlaut, Nomsa Ndongwe, Togzhan Kassenova, Kimberly Ma, Jasmine Owens, Celeste Rogers, Sylvia Mishra, Liza Arias, Sumaya Malas, Jessica J. Lee, Jessica Gott, April Arnold, and Takiva Pierce
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
Abstract:
This edition features articles from member sin two of the WCAPS working groups: Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear Security; and Global Health Security. A critical goal of WCAPS is to cultivate a new generation of women of color in the areas of peace and security, foreign policy, and national security.
Topic:
Security, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, Infrastructure, Disarmament, Nonproliferation, Biological Weapons, Chemical Weapons, COVID-19, and Global Health
Political Geography:
China, North Korea, Global Focus, and United States of America

47. Global Goals, Global Cities: Achieving the SDGs through Collective Local Action

Author:
Kris Hartley
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
Global Goals, Global Cities: Achieving the SDGs through Collective Local Action SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 By: Kris Hartley, Nonresident Fellow, Global Cities The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.” While the goals were designed to provide a nonbinding vision to guide policymaking at the national level, such a massive agenda requires stakeholders at all levels of government and society, including cities, collaborate to achieve the intended outcomes. This participation is more urgent given that the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network found that no country is on track to meeting all the goals by 2030. Cities have a crucial role to play in translating the high-level, ambitious, and multidimensional vision of the SDGs into practice through local policies—that is, localization. This report serves as a resource to help policymakers better understand the opportunities, challenges, and complexities facing cities and their strategic stakeholders in advancing the SDGs.
Topic:
United Nations, Infrastructure, and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:
Global Focus

48. Untapped Wealth of Cities

Author:
Alexander Hitch
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
For many cities, finding innovative ways to fund infrastructure projects, pay off existing public debts, and meet recurring budget shortfalls is a perpetual challenge. Yet city leaders are often unaware of the value of their publicly-owned assets, and how to leverage this value for the common good. Many cities worldwide are facing the concurrent challenges of deteriorating infrastructure, demands for new development, and requests for expanded services, all within constrained budget parameters. PwC Megatrends expects, for example, that $8 trillion in infrastructure spending will be needed in New York, Beijing, Shanghai, and London over the next decade. As cities age and grow, the pressures on both infrastructure and on local governments increase faster than cities can respond. To support their balance sheets, city leaders are looking for new, creative sources of revenue, independent of tax increases or allowing the whole-scale privatization of public assets, such as airports, harbors, sewerage, and unused real estate. Cities must understand how to unlock the wealth of these public assets to generate future cash flows and manage the governance and accounting processes to ensure long-term stability and returns. A novel approach to solving public-sector budget shortfalls is untapping the value of their commercial assets through private and professional management. Publicly-owned commercial assets include real estate, such as buildings and land, but also operational assets, which include utilities, such as energy and water. Leveraging public wealth without adding additional taxes, slapping on user fees, or privatizing city assets provides a more politically palatable safety valve as cities continue to see challenged balance sheets. However, this is highly dependent on the “best use” of the asset, and who exactly decides how the asset must be transformed into a more valuable entity. Are there specific assets that should be off-limits? Finally, how can city leaders build the political will in countries where this is yet to be implemented?
Topic:
Infrastructure, Budget, Urban, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

49. Navigating Low-Carbon Finance Management at Banks and Non-Banking Financial Institutions

Author:
Naoyuki Yoshino and Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
Lack of long-term financing, the existence of various risks, the low rate of return, and lack of capacity in market actors are major challenges for the development of low-carbon projects. This paper attempts to provide guidelines for governments and financial institutions by highlighting practical solutions as enabling conditions of low-carbon finance and investment. Such solutions include increasing the role of public financial institutions, increasing the share of non-banking financial institutions in long-term investments, using the spillover tax to increase the rate of return, developing green credit guarantee schemes to reduce the credit risk, and addressing low-carbon investment risks via financial and policy de-risking. These solutions are analysed in detail and considerations for their implementation are discussed throughout the paper. Tools and instruments for low-carbon investments and a practical example of the implementation of the proposed tools are also provided in this paper
Topic:
Climate Change, Infrastructure, Banks, Credit, and Financial Institutions
Political Geography:
Global Focus

50. Influence and Infrastructure: The Strategic Stakes of Foreign Projects

Author:
Jonathan Hillman
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
This report illustrates how states use foreign infrastructure to advance strategic objectives. Some avenues for influence are intuitive, while others require a more detailed understanding of how infrastructure projects are conceived, financed, built, and operated. With an eye toward illuminating current issues, this report draws from examples throughout history and shows how China is updating and exercising tactics used by Western powers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. With developing Asia alone requiring $26 trillion in additional infrastructure investment by 2030, these issues, and the strategic implications they carry, are likely to intensify in the coming years.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, and Foreign Interference
Political Geography:
Global Focus