Reports and Documents

The Government of Tamil Nadu has launched the Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy 2012 to promote solar energy. It has been envisioned to add about 3000 MW by the year 2015 under the Policy. The Electricity Act, 2003, mandates the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to promote generation of electricity from renewable sources of energy.

Asian countries have a unique opportunity to transform themselves and leapfrog older technologies to lead the global knowledge-based economy of the future, says a new report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Asia has a youthful population and large middle-class market.

Many people living in poor communities in Ethiopia, Andhra Pradesh (India), Peru and Vietnam experience climatic shocks such as droughts and floods, and many face episodes of food insecurity.

As world leaders meet in New York later this month at a summit convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the global fight against climate change, a new report highlights the crucial role a new set of Sustainable Development Goals must play in meeting the challenge.

The Trade and Development Report 2014: Global Governance and Policy Space for Development examines recent trends in the global economy, with a focus on growth, trade and commodity prices.

The Earth's protective ozone layer is well on track to recovery in the next few decades thanks to concerted international action against ozone depleting substances, according to a new assessment by 300 scientists. The Assessment for Decision-Makers, a summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, is being published by the UNEP and the WMO, and is the first comprehensive update in four years. The stratospheric ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. Without the Montreal Protocol and associated agreements, atmospheric levels of ozone depleting substances could have increased tenfold by 2050. According to global models, the Protocol will have prevented 2 million cases of skin cancer annually by 2030, averted damage to human eyes and immune systems, and protected wildlife and agriculture, according to UNEP.

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges the world faces today. It affects all aspects of the development agenda, from poverty eradication to health care, to economic growth and disaster risk reduction. Meanwhile, the success of global action on climate change will depend on the development path taken by all countries.

This book presents the key findings from a new poverty assessment for Vietnam, led jointly by the World Bank and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS). It takes a fresh look at the lives of poor men, women, and children, and explores the constraints and opportunities they face today in rising out of poverty.

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013, propelled by a surge in levels of carbon dioxide.

A coalition of NGOs has argued that every state and territory in Australia fails to implement environmental laws at the Commonwealth standards and address World Heritage Conventions, putting ecosystem and threatened species at risk.