The transition towards a green economy has become an urgent need. A pre-condition for the effective development and diffusion of green technologies, as well as for increasing competitiveness, is the presence of well-functioning national quality infrastructure systems, comprising standards,...

Investments in climate change mitigation will have to rise massively in the coming years in order to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5°C. Rising levels of investment in mitigation can reduce the impacts of climate change. Yet, they also increase the risk that these investments...

This report highlights lessons regarding impacts, costs and acceptance from the implementation of environmental tax reform (ETR) in industrialised countries that are most transferable to the developing country context. The report draws together the experience of the authors in selected...

Development cooperation has to be visible to ensure domestic political support. This explains the frequent calls for greater visibility at the headquarters level of aid agencies. However, effective development cooperation is not compatible with every form of visibility. Actions geared toward...

The existence of under-aided countries, sectors, and sub-national regions – also known as “aid orphans” – implies inefficiencies in the current overall allocation of aid resources. This is of particular concern because aid effectiveness depends not only on how well resources are...

Development assistance has for many decades been aiming to support developing countries’ strategies to achieve more sustainable development. Yet, evidence shows that the impact of such assistance has been well below expectations. This study examines the efforts of assistance providers and...