The aggregate manufacturing energy intensity of 28 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia had declined by 35% during 1998–2008. This study reveals a strong evidence of convergence: less efficient countries improved more rapidly and the cross-country variance in energy productivity...

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme is the first international cap-and-trade program for CO2 and the largest carbon pricing regime in the world. A principle concern over the Emissions Trading Scheme is the potential impact on the competitiveness of industry. Using a panel of 5873 firms...

Electricity shortages are among the biggest barriers to South Asia’s development. Some 255 million people—more than a quarter of the world’s off-grid population—live in South Asia, and millions of households and firms that are connected experience frequent and long hours of blackouts....

The government of the Republic of Belarus plans to increase district heating tariffs to cost recovery levels and gradually phase out subsidies, replacing them with social assistance programs. Residential district heating tariffs in Belarus are currently at roughly 10–21 percent of...

Pollution from fossil fuels and degraded natural lands are raising the earth’s temperature. The evidence of the causes of global warming is clear, as are its consequences. The economic impacts of climate change are already apparent and they threaten development gains. Extreme weather events...

In urban areas around the world, increasing motorization and growing travel demand make the urban transportation sector an ever-greater contributor to local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The situation is particularly acute in developing countries, where growing metropolitan regions...