Environment & Energy

Featured publications

AAP: Voices from the Ground 16 Apr 2013
Every Drop Matters Volume I 01 Mar 2013

Towards Transformational Change 17 Mar 2013
Synthesis of National Reports for Rio+20 02 Jan 2013

Most recent publications

Towards Sustainable Development for All in Africa 31 May 2013
Issue Brief: Toward Ocean Recovery 25 Apr 2013

Results: Tunisia 15 May 2013
Africa Adaptation Programme: Capacity building experiences 16 Apr 2013

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Services and supply chains- The role of the domestic private sector in water service delivery in Tanzania

This report presents findings from a review of the service activities of informal private water vendors in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s capital is a rapidly growing city, and around 70% of the population lacks proper housing and lives in informal settlements. Large parts of the city remain more

Small-Scale Water Providers in Kenya: Pioneers or Predators?

There are two main schools of thought about the role of small-scale private water providers. Proponents view them as pioneers and gap-fillers, supplying water where utilities are not providing it adequately. Sceptics argue that they are predators who charge high prices and supply poor quality more

Small-Scale, Private Water Service Provision: Case Studies of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya

This series of case studies focuses on issues with private provision of water services in urban areas of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Small scale providers increase water supply coverage – an essential service in fast-growing cities – and reduce time poverty. However, system of water more

Smoke in the Kitchen: Health Impacts of Indoor Air Pollution

This is the executive summary of a seminar hosted by UNDP with support from ITDG, USEPA, and WTO. The aim of the seminar was to raise awareness among country governments and UN agencies on the health impacts of indoor air pollution from household energy use, and to promote global action to reduce more

Solar Photovoltaics in Africa: Experiences with Financing and Delivery Models

The second issue of the UNDP/GEF "Lessons for the Future" series focuses on solar PV. It explores questions about the best ways to make PV solar systems accessible, affordable, and sustainable to rural people in developing countries keeping in mind the constraints, opportunities, and more

State of Biodiversity Markets: Offset and Compensation Programs Worldwide

The report provides the status and trends of biodiversity offset and compensatory mitigation programs by geographical region. It summarizes the total active programs and developing activities, and broad metrics like total known payments and land area protected. It also analyzes the characteristics more

Staying on Track : Tackling Corruption Risks in Climate Change

Maximizing the effectiveness of climate finance must include steps to reduce the potential for corruption, as large influxes of resources coupled with an imperative to spend can create conditions ripe for corruption. This report identifies the corruption risks in relation to two elements of the more

Staying on Track: Tackling Corruption Risks in Climate Change

The UNDP report was launched during the 14th International Anti Corruption Conference in Bangkok in November 2010. It maps out major corruption risks in the areas of adaptation and REDD+ and makes recommendations to identify actions to minimize these risks. more

Stocktaking of Tools and Guidelines to Mainstream Climate Change Adaptation

The report provides a summary of existing tools and good practices from a range of organisations to guide development practitioners in their climate change mainstreaming efforts. The components and entry points of the mainstreaming process are explored; Key climate change adaptation and more

Strategic Approach to Enhance Capacity Building

The GEF Council approved the Strategic Approach to Enhancing Capacity Building in November 2003. In approving the strategy, the Council requested the GEF Secretariat, in collaboration with the Implementing Agencies and the monitoring and evaluation unit, to undertake further work to operationalize more

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Approach to Adaptation

The focus of this Advisory Note is to show how SEA approaches can help mainstream adaptation to climate change into strategic planning. It is used to integrate considerations related to climate change into national development or sectoral management planning or policymaking processes. For more more

Strategy on Scaling up Access to Modern Energy Services

The report on the East African Community Strategy outlines the current energy access situation and planned direction to the target date of 2015. It further highlights the existing gaps in the provision of modern energy services and draws attention to the enormous task that lies ahead if the more

Supporting Transformational Change

The purpose of this report is to reflect on UNDP’s experience of development cooperation over the past 50 years, and to extract some common themes and general lessons about development cooperation for the future. The report makes the case that development is a long-term proposition and is seldom more

Sustainable Development of the World’s Large Marine Ecosystems

The report "Sustainable Development of the World’s Large Marine Ecosystems during Climate Change" features papers that cover a range of key issues, from the impacts of climate change on Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) to new policy and institutional tools for LME governance. more

Sustainable Energy Services: The why and how of mainstreaming gender

The guideline is a part of UNDP's series, "Gender Mainstreaming: a Key Driver of Development in Environment & Energy." It looks at why gender is relevant to policymaking and programming in the area of sustainable energy services. more

Sustainable Energy Strategies: Materials for Decision-Makers

The publication is intended to provide UNDP with the capacity for sustainable energy programme and policy development at the country level; to help identify and develop specific energy interventions in existing programmes; and to provide practical models demonstrating how energy could be used as an more

Sustainable Management of Persistant Organic Pollutants in Mauritius

This publication documents objectives, results and lessons of UNDP-supported and GEF co-financed project to assist the Government of Mauritius in its efforts to improve the management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the country. The overall objective of the project is to address the more

Tariff Hikes with Low Investment: The Story of the Urban Water Sector in Zambia

The One Pager, by UNDP's International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, examines the urban water sector in Zambia. It finds that the country's liberalization strategy, which emphasizes tariff rationalization, has failed to ensure full cost recovery and has further constrained affordability and more

Technological Cooperation and Climate Change

A Consultation on “Technology Cooperation for Addressing Climate Change” was organized jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), Government of India and UNDP in India. This publication comprises commissioned papers which were presented and discussed at the consultation. The more

Technology Needs Assessment Handbook

Building on lessons from earlier TNA efforts, the updated TNA Handbook offers a systematic approach for conducting TNA in order to identify, evaluate and prioritize mitigation and adaptation technologies. more

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