South Asia

The impacts of climate change are beginning to be felt around the world.  Case studies that identify the immediate causes of disasters as well as their root drivers provide the empirical basis for strategies to increase resilience to climate impacts.  Here we present a case study of the city of Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao in the Philippines and its experience with Tropical Storm Sendong (international name Washi) in 2011.  We use local key informant interviews from 2014 and secondary sources to identify both the local, immediate causes as well as the more widespread root drivers of the disaster.  We focus on two root drivers in particular: informal settlements in hazardous areas and political dynamics based on patronage, which can present risks both pre- and post-disaster.  Addressing these root drivers will be important for increasing climate resilience in the Philippines and other countries.

The authors analyze and contrast how China and India mobilized financial resources to build domestic technological innovation systems in wind energy.

"Crop production in the heartlands of Pakistan — served by a massive network of canals — now increasingly relies on energy consuming groundwater pumps to meet irrigation needs. A million tube wells are reportedly installed in Punjab alone, and energy use in pumping and farm operations may account for up to one-fifth of the province's energy consumption."

Leonardo Maugeri writes that oil production capacity is surging in the United States and several other countries at such a fast pace that global oil output capacity is likely to grow by nearly 20 percent by 2020—possibly prompting a plunge or even a collapse in oil prices.

The outcome of the December 2011 United Nations climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, provides an important new opportunity to move toward an international climate policy architecture that is capable of delivering broad international participation and significant global CO2 emissions reductions at reasonable cost. This paper addresses an important component of potential climate policy architecture for the post-Durban era: links among independent tradable permit systems for greenhouse gases.

Expanding energy access to the rural population of India presents a critical challenge for its government. The presence of 364 million people without access to electricity and 726 million who rely on biomass for cooking indicate both the failure of past policies and programs, and the need for a radical redesign of the current system. We propose an integrated implementation framework with recommendations for adopting business principles with innovative institutional, regulatory, financing and delivery mechanisms.