Turkey is urgently required to reduce its high energy intensity. Promotion of energy efficiency across economic sectors is one of the operational priorities for the Bank during the initial phase of operation in Turkey. In this context, the EBRD is developing the Turkey Private Sector Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (the 'Facility' or 'TURSEFF'). This will take the form of a framework operation of USD 200 million2 under which credit lines will be provided by EBRD to at least four banks in Turkey for on-lending to (i) commercial energy efficiency investments; (ii) stand-alone small scale renewable energy investments; (iii) buildings sector energy efficiency and renewable energy investments; (iv) energy efficiency and renewable energy in the residential sector; and (v) investment loans for eligible manufacturers, suppliers and installers of energy efficiency and renewable energy technology, equipment and materials. The objective of the Facility is to ensure that Participating Banks (PBs) become familiar with appraising and financing bankable sustainable energy investment projects and that technical expertise is developed to identify and prepare technically and environmentally feasible energy efficiency projects. As a result, the Facility is expected to instigate a self-sustaining market for investment in small and medium sized sustainable energy projects in Turkey. Services provided: Promotion of TurSEFF through targeted public awareness and marketing campaigns; Definition and update of technical criteria of the Facility; Development of a pipeline and portfolio of Sub-projects; Capacity building among local PBs to identify eligible project opportunities (via training of loan officers); Establishment of a database of applicants for Sub-loans and assist both the PBs and the Sub-borrowers; Development of energy efficiency, renewable energy and Buildings Sector Sub-projects; Establishment of an efficient electronic tracking, monitoring and reporting system; Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and assessment of the scope for a carbon credit transaction; Elaboration of Project Identification Notes (PIN) for carbon projects; Elaboration of an innovative concept for bundling carbon revenues.
Objective: Countries in the Western Balkan region have great unexploited potential of renewable energy sources (RES), which could by efficient use significantly contribute to security of supply within the region and wider. Special care has to be devoted to sound solu tions for electricity supply of undeveloped and isolated regions due to war damage. The main objectives of the VBPC are: (i) transfer of know-how in RES technology and their implementation for isolated regions, (ii) to identify main economic and legislativ e factors influencing investment decisions in RES including barriers and local specifics, and to identify options to improve penetration of RES, and (.ii) awareness building and education on modes, means and benefits of renewable energy sources. The work w ithin the VBPC will be organized in 4 work packages (WP). First WP will deal with transfer of best practice and best technologies in RES for isolated regions, comprising energy transformation, distribution, operation and control, connection to the local ne twork, energy storage and organizational as also other implementation issues. In the second WP the regulatory framework of each WB country will be analyzed to identify barriers and local specifics. This will be archived by exchange ofinformation on establi shing incentives for promotion of RES and experiences with harmonisation with EU legislation in EU, AS and WB countries. Communication and dissemination with key focus groups (policy makers, utilities and SMEs, higher education system) will be the objectiv e of the WP3. Fore each key focus group of actors important for RES implementation in the region a special dissemination program will be carried out comprising targeted workshops, conferences, public reports and summer schools. The fourth WP will be devote d to project management issues and to support actions and activities in the first three work packages.
Alpine Space cities face common urban mobility challenges which call for innovative and cost-effective mobility solutions. These challenges are: - limited public/ private budget for transport infrastructure; - excessive private car-based traffic in cities; - large amounts of fragmented goods delivery schemes contributing to congestion; - rising CO2 and noise, deteriorating air quality and adverse health impacts; - lack of/ inefficient institutional cooperation for long term solutions; - poor recognition of interdependencies between cities and neighbouring regions; - absence of an integrated planning approach to address mobility/ urban development/ land use planning. The Alpine Space is a region with continued growth, including increased passenger and freight transport. It suffers both from large volumes of cross-Alpine and seasonal traffic as well as sprawl from its cities to the countryside. It coordinates the development of the Sustainable regional-Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) concept which the EC strongly promotes and, in its 2011 Transport White Paper, even suggests as a mandatory approach. Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) has the following characteristics: - active involvement of all stakeholders throughout the planning process; -commitment to sustainability, i.e. balancing social equity, environmental quality and economic development; - looking beyond the borders through an integrated approach between policy sectors, cooperation between authority levels and coordination across neighbouring authorities; - focus on achieving ambitious, measurable targets; - targeting cost internalisation i.e. reviewing transport costs and benefits for society; - comprehensive method including all steps of the life cycle of policy making and implementation. The PUMAS Project aims to: - advance SUMP, which focuses on participation, integration, evaluation and cost internalisation as a new paradigm in mobility planning; - develop, implement and evaluate 7 pilots using SUMP methods and tools; - generate best practice and lessons for others in the AS and beyond; - improve the awareness, exchange, coordination and development of regional-urban mobility plans (freight and passenger) through an innovative communication platform; - create the Alpine Space community and the National and Alpine Reference Point for SUMP in Slovenia, thus guaranteeing sustainability beyond the lifetime of the project. The Alpine Space Programme is the EU transnational cooperation programme for the Alps. Partners from the seven Alpine countries work together to promote regional development in a sustainable way. The programme is jointly financed by the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Partner States taking part in the activities. The contribution of the project partners coming from the EU are co-funded by ERDF up to a rate of 76%. The remaining costs have to be covered by other public funds, depending on rules at national level.
This report analyses the taxation of energy use in 41 countries, covering 80% of global energy use. It appears at a juncture when many countries struggle to sustain orreconnect with economic growth and face formidable fiscal consolidation challenges. At the same time, concerns over the very highhuman costs of air pollution are mounting and the urgency of acting to limit greenhouse gases isnow abundantly clear.Energy use is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions and of air pollution. It also is acritical input into production and consumption in modern economies. If deployed effectively, taxes onenergy use are a powerful tool to balance the benefits and costs of energy use. Energy use taxes canalso play a useful role in fiscal consolidation. What this report tells us, however, is that with currentpolicies energy taxes fail to live up to their potential.Taxes on energy use influence the price and use of energy. Ideally, end-user energy prices wouldreflect their environmental impacts to ensure that resources are used most productively and that thenegative side-effects of energy use are contained. Taxes can help to achieve this, while also providingincentives to seek alternative, cleaner technologies.To employ energy taxes more effectively, it is necessary to understand the signals they providein respect of energy use. This report systematically analyses the structure and level of energy taxesacross 41 countries: the OECD countries and seven selected partner economies (Argentina, Brazil,China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa). Effective tax rates, expressed per unit of carbonand per unit of energy, are situated within the energy market structures and other pricing policies ineach country, allowing the price signals they send to be better understood.Our analysis highlights vastly different levels of energy use and taxation among these41 countries, but also some common patterns. Transport energy is typically taxed at higher ratesthan other forms of energy use whereas fuels for heating and process use or electricity generationare more likely to be untaxed or taxed at lower rates. Fuels used for similar purposes are often taxeddifferently, with low rates applying to some of the fuels most harmful for human health and theenvironment. Tax rates on coal are particularly low.The picture is not, however, entirely bleak. The awareness about the need to curb negative sideeffectsof energy use is rising on governments political agendas, with many, including the selectedpartner economies, reconsidering price signals and taxes on harmful forms of energy use andinvesting in renewable sources of energy. This report can serve as a reference for policy makers andanalysts to identify reform options to ensure that energy taxes are best adapted to their economic,social and environmental goals - that is, to develop better tax policies for better lives.
The Catch-C project assesses the farm-compatibility of Best Management Practices (BMPs) that aim to promote productivity, climate change mitigation, and soil quality. These are the three overall goals of sustainable soil management. Catch-C will first (WP2) set up a typology of the main farm types and agro-ecological zones across Europe. This frame, coupled to a pan-European database of socio-economic and biophysical data, will be used for spatially organising the information collected on current management; and for up-scaling the impacts expected from changes in management. Biophysical impacts of management practices will be assessed (WP3) primarily from a large set of current field experiments, executed by the participants. BMPs will be formulated, along with their trade-offs and synergies between productivity, climate change mitigation, and soil quality. Farmers, however, often do not adopt BMPs. Identifying the barriers against adoption, and formulating ways to remove these, are core activities of the project (WP4). Catch-C will survey farmer views on BMPs in all participant countries, assess costs and benefits of implementation, identify technical and ecological bottlenecks preventing adoption, develop a decision support tool, and prioritize innovation requirements to address bottlenecks. Policy measures can promote adoption in various ways, such as voluntary measures, regulation, and economic incentives. In interaction with policy makers, Catch-C will develop (WP5) guidelines for policies that will support the adoption of BMPs; and that are consistent with regional agro-ecological and farming contexts. Dissemination (WP6) includes scientific publication; discussing project results with farmers and policy makers; making information about BMPs and their adoption available to a wider audience; and stimulating awareness about the pros and cons of BMPs for different farm types and environments in participant countries.