By Julie Radomski, Tsitsi Musasike, Tinotenda Chidhawu, Hudson Mtegha and Earnest Rungano Chinyanga Lithium has emerged as an indispensable resource powering the energy transition, given its central role in electric vehicle batteries and battery energy storage systems. For Zimbabwe, endowed with Africa’s largest lithium reserves, this presents a historic opportunity. The country accounted for nearly […]
The mining sector contributed US$5.6 billion to Zimbabwe’s GDP in 2022 and is expected to contribute $20 billion in 2030. Despite this significant contribution, Zimbabwe does not have a standalone national mining policy or a transition mineral-specific strategy to ensure it reaps the full benefits from its lithium boom. This national policy gap takes on […]
“Dear President Gustavo Petro Urrego, We write to you as economists and legal scholars deeply concerned that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses a serious obstacle to building prosperous, equitable, and sustainable societies. As Colombia prepares to co-host the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta from April 24-29, where discussions […]
Latin America’s wealth of transition minerals positions it as a key supplier of the raw materials necessary for renewable energy generation. However, despite GDP growth due to commodity exports, past resource cycles in Latin America have resulted in environmental degradation, social conflict and economic fragility rather than broad-based development. Therefore, a just energy transition in […]
By Julie Radomski As petroleum prices reach historic highs while solar and wind prices reach historic lows, the future of the global energy transition appears resilient. This trend continues in large part thanks to China, which leads the world in solar and wind power generation as well as low-carbon technology manufacturing and exports. Meanwhile, Latin […]
Applications are now closed. The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center is pleased to announce the PhD student-led field research projects in human capital and development. Established in 2017, HCI generates rigorous evidence-based insights on the impact of human capital on development. Outputs under this initiative serve to inform […]
By Xia Li A new power plant can look like a straightforward win for a fast-growing economy. It means more electricity for homes, hospitals, factories and schools. But our new study suggests the story is far more complicated. Today, every major energy investment is increasingly shaped by two climate realities at once. First, there’s the […]
By Marina Zucker-Marques, Rosa He and Tianyi Wu Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many developing countries have faced a financial deadlock: they must scale up social and climate spending to support social-economic development, but the lack of fiscal space, and resulting debt distress inhibit new investments. Multilateral solutions such as the G20 Common […]
Governments around the world are reviving industrial policy to nurture nascent industries through multiple instruments, including tariffs, subsidies and localization policies. This shift is occurring amid intensifying geopolitical competition and weakening multilateral trade norms that are reshaping the global policy space. The electric vehicle (EV) industry, at the heart of global innovation and industrial competition, […]
By Hanjie Wang While trade tensions continue to dominate international headlines, the rapid growth of electric vehicle (EV) industry has attracted less attention. Yet this transformation is already having a ripple effect in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). As governments race to decarbonize economies, the EV sector has become one of the most competitive […]