The Paris Agreement provides a framework for all countries - both developed and developing - to voluntarily adopt individual targets, elaborated in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). This effectively introduces commitments on the country in the sectors covered by their NDCs....

Carbon prices are needed to incorporate climate change costs into economic decision making. Carbon pricing should be included as part of a broader arsenal of tools to achieve domestic climate targets, but it is not a silver bullet: other policy instruments and investments (for example, public...

By 2050, two-thirds of the planet's population will live in urban centers, and nearly 90 percentof the 2.5 billion new urban dwellers will live in Africa and Asia. The world's urban areas wereresponsible for around 70 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2013, and that numbercould grow...

Climate auctions are an innovative climate finance mechanism, with high potential to support nationally determined contribution (NDC) implementation and deepening through efficiently leveraging private investment. The World Bank has developed the climate auction model through the work of the...

This working paper commissioned by the World Bank Carbon Markets and Innovation Practice (GCCMI) critically examines experience with carbon markets under the Kyoto protocol. The de facto end of the Kyoto Protocol and heralding of the Paris Agreement era has created the space for critical...

The Paris Agreement introduced a bottom-up approach for addressing climate change by enabling countries to pledge individual commitments through nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Furthermore, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement recognizes that Parties may engage in bilateral cooperative...

This report analyses options to make international public climate finance more transformative. The report identifies eight sets of levers to drive climate action: project-based investments, financial sector reform, fiscal policy, sectoral policies, trade policy, innovation and technology...

This retrospective examines how the World Bank's strategic use of climate-related trust funds has enabled it to play an outsized role in catalyzing climate action worldwide for nearly 30 years. By looking back at the history of climate and carbon finance, with a focus on the pioneering role of...

Digitalization is increasing rapidly worldwide, requiring more energy, and resulting in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to International Telecommunication Union (ITU) two thirds of the world's population are now online. Estimates of the internet and communication technology (ICT)...