In this newsletter, we are taking a moment to reflect on finance for energy transitions whilst reviewing developments from the last quarter of 2025 and key topics for 2026.  

On 12th of December 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted, obliging governments worldwide to strive to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. In the same year, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted. 10 years later, the international climate agreement has shaped and accelerated energy transitions at state and non-state actor levels. However, the current rate of global warming and Nationally Determined Contributions of developed economies make it challenging to align with a 1.5 °C pathway.  

Urgent financing innovations are critical to close the funding gap and scale up climate and energy finance to drive forward equitable and effective energy transitions in line with both climate goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As highlighted by IRENA, global investments in the energy transition reached a record USD 2.4 trillion in 2024, up 20% from the previous year. At the same time, finance is flowing predominantely to developed economies and China in the form of private, profit-driven capital, leaving emerging markets and developing countries behind. Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for only 2.3% and 5.4%, respectively, whilst China accounted for a share of 44% of global investment in renewable energy per region in 2024.

Due to investments taking place mostly at the debt and equity levels, developing countries are facing increasing debt burdens and require more low-cost debt, concessional payments and grant finance for an equitable global energy transition.
Channelling public investment via multilateral and bilateral Development Finance Institutions will be vital to support energy transitions in developing countries that are largely excluded from private capital flows.   

In this issue... 

You’ll find further insights and research from across INETTT at the intersection of finance and energy transitions.  

I4CE addresses the network with a message on the Finance Working Group! 

You’ll also get up the latest updates on activities within INETTT, including recent training, programmes, and publications. We’re excited to launch our new policy brief series on the design, implementation and implications of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). See below for the newly published country-level case study on Brazil, developed by INETTT in collaboration with E+ Energy Transition Institute.

Within the Finance Working Group, INETTT provides a space for members to exchange knowledge and share skills on the topic through training and research, connecting local and national insights with a global perspective.   

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Kind thoughts,

In November 2025, COP30 concluded in Belém with all Parties agreeing on a “global mobilization” (mutirão) against climate change, showing that multilateralism remains a viable path for action despite strong geopolitical and economic headwinds. Yet Belém also delivered underwhelming results on several fronts, notably the absence of a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels despite a powerful push from over 80 countries. On climate finance, outcomes paint a contrasted picture: formal negotiations failed to move from ambition to implementation, with debates reverting to an entrenched battle over a new headline target for adaptation finance despite last year’s agreement on a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). At the same time, significant progress emerged outside the negotiation rooms, from broad visions and menus of solutions to initiatives to turn climate strategies into country investment pathways, and from public development banks (PDBs) and vertical climate funds to coalitions of the willing.

Negotiated outcomes were disappointing, particularly on climate finance. Talks quickly reverted to familiar bloc-against-bloc dynamics around the new goal to triple adaptation finance by 2035: developing countries centred their position on Article 9.1 and a USD 120 billion adaptation target by 2030, while developed countries pushed to broaden the contributor base, stay within the NCQG framework and link any new adaptation finance to higher mitigation ambition. A key step for just transitions was the decision to establish a Just Transition Mechanism under the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme, but it came without dedicated finance or a clear roadmap. COP30 also missed the chance to seriously discuss the 75 measures in the Baku to Belém Roadmap, with the Global Mutirão decision merely “taking note” of it and setting up new processes that will now need to be used to advance the USD 300 billion goal, the NCQG and work on Article 2.1(c).

Outside the negotiation rooms, however, things moved. The Baku to Belém (B2B) Roadmap and the report of the COP30 Circle of Finance Ministers put forward a detailed menu of solutions that should be further explored to scale up climate finance. The B2B Roadmap recalled that developing countries will need around USD 3.2 trillion a year in climate and nature investments by 2035, including USD 2.05 trillion for the clean energy transition and a fivefold increase in just transition spending. In line with this agenda, 13 countries and one regional coalition announced new “country platforms” under the Green Climate Fund Readiness Programme, while the Country Platform Hub was launched to connect these national efforts to technical assistance, knowledge and finance. Belém also saw coalitions of the willing step up on the just energy transition: the push for a fossil fuel phase-out roadmap led the Netherlands and Colombia to announce a first international conference on the phase-out of fossil fuels in 2026, public development banks and utilities strengthened their climate commitments and investment targets, and new initiatives emerged or got further political push, such as the Belém Declaration on Global Green Industrialisation, the Global Clean Power Alliance Finance Mission and the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force.

COP30 concluded in Belém with outcomes on climate finance showing that while negotiations still stumble over old divides, real progress is taking shape outside the formal process. COP30 –and especially the preparatory work undertaken by the Brazilian presidency– offered a blueprint for how implementation can accelerate when coalitions of the willing choose to act. The challenge now is to turn this momentum into a durable architecture that delivers predictable, scalable finance, not more headline battles. If Türkiye and Australia seize this opportunity at COP31, Belém could yet be remembered not for what it failed to agree, but for what it set in motion.

Read the full version of this blog at INETTT’s think tank news. 

*The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the INETTT Secretariat or the wider INETTT membership. 

We are pleased to share the launch of a new report series examining the implications of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for selected developing countries. 

The first case study focuses on Brazil and was developed by INETTT together with E+ Energy Transition Institute. It assesses the potential impacts of CBAM implementation, both positive and negative, along with the country’s preparedness and possible responses. 

The impact studies aim to enhance understanding among policymakers of the mechanism’s potential effectiveness, as well as challenges likely to arise and how CBAM implementation can help shape sustainable pathways for global decarbonisation.

In November 2025, INETTT members came together for a 4-day training on PyPSA-Hydrogen. 

12 participants from 8 countries joined us in Casablanca, Morocco, to learn about PyPSA (Python for Power System Analysis), a flexible framework for modelling and optimising modern energy systems and gain practical skills to develop a simplified energy system model for green hydrogen production. 

Beyond technical learning, the training emphasised practical application and impact. Over the last two days, the trainees participated in a Hackathon and developed a diverse range of models to answer country-specific questions.

The group focusing on the Philippines used PyPSA to model the costs of switching from diesel generators to renewable energy on off-grid Filipino islands, whilst the Mexico and South Africa group evaluated the costs of a green steel transition in Nuevo León, Mexico’s most industrialised state.

The training was delivered by Agora Energiewende’s Energy and Data Modelling Team; hosted by local INETTT member IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development; and organised by the INETTT Secretariat. 

As the share of variable renewable energy and overall electricity demand continues to grow, power system flexibility is becoming increasingly critical to ensure reliable and cost-effective operation. 

In November, INETTT’s Power Working Group convened an internal webinar bringing together INETTT experts to explore how flexibility is enabled and incentivised in different power systems. 
The discussion was opened by Agora Energiewende, highlighting the importance of different flexibility options.

This was followed by country case studies from POLEN Transiciones Justas (Colombia), SHURA Energy Transition Center (Türkiye), Vasudha Foundation (India) and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (Pakistan), illustrating how different market, policy and regulatory contexts shape flexibility solutions. 

Power system flexibility is essential for managing the variability and uncertainty of supply and demand across timescales and locations, enabling higher shares of renewables while maintaining grid stability. Key solutions discussed included battery storage, pumped hydro, and cross-border interconnections, which should be complemented by demand response management and by enabling policy and regulatory frameworks. While many challenges and solutions are shared across countries, effective flexibility strategies need to be highly context-specific.

We’d like to thank the close to 50 speakers and participants from the network who joined the sessions in November and contributed to lively discussions.

INETTT’s new skills-sharing programme: Women Leadership for Energy Transition Think Tank Representatives kicked off with a webinar in December. 

The programme is implemented jointly with our partner, the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET), and features exclusive mentoring, online training and an in-person leadership workshop. 

Participants represent 11 different nationalities and have diverse areas of expertise, ranging from engineering to management and psychology. 

Stay tuned on our social media where the mentors and mentees will be introduced soon.  

Our member Vasudha Foundation delivered an internal online session on the India Climate and Energy Dashboard (ICED). The platform brings together datasets and insights for climate and energy research, providing access to 500+ parameters and more than 2,000 interactive infographics about India’s energy, climate, and economy to support modelling, analysis, and assessments.  

During the session, Vasudha Foundation guided participants through the dashboard’s features and showcased its applications to inform robust decision-making for India’s clean energy transition, knowledge that can be transferred across geographies and contexts.

This online session is a concrete example of the collaborative approach that lies at the heart of our mission. With members sharing their insights, INETTT provides a platform to accelerate sustainable energy transitions through knowledge sharing, strategic partnerships and collective action. 

Nigeria’s efforts to scale up climate finance are unfolding within a complex policy and stakeholder landscape, highlighting the need for stronger coordination and alignment across institutions and partners. While Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) offer useful lessons, their narrow focus on energy systems has left critical gaps in adaptation, resilience, industrial growth, and job creation. This report explores how a Country Platform for Climate Action would build on JETPs while integrating economic development, social equity, and broader climate priorities. 

In this policy brief, ECCO examines how the Mediterranean can develop a coordinated approach for financing the energy transition, aligning national and international actors around a pathway toward 1 TW of renewable capacity, in line with the Paris goals and the COP28 Dubai Consensus ambitions. To move from fragmentation to coordination and accelerate investment, the brief proposes four key recommendations. 

Climate finance in Brazil remains fragmented, with strong institutional efforts but limited ability to measure real-world impact. This study identifies key gaps and opportunities and offers four recommendations to align funding with verifiable results for the energy transition. The publication is available in Portuguese here.  

The South African Climate Finance Landscape 2025 report systematically maps climate finance investment flows in South Africa. It aims to establish a comprehensive evidence base, identify financing gaps, challenges and opportunities to scale up finance across priority sectors and propose solutions to methodological challenges. 

This comprehensive report delivers the first quantitative analysis of how realigning with the global clean energy transition would affect economic outcomes for South Korea. Drwaing on a newly compiled database of overseas energy projects and value-chain analysis, the study finds that shifting investment from fossil fuels to clean energy could more than double jobs by 2035 while substantially increasing GDP contribution. 

The analysis covers the value chains of both fossil fuel projects (oil and gas production, transportation, refining, petrochemicals, power generation) and clean energy projects (solar PV, wind, energy storage systems, battery manufacturing). It evaluates four transition scenarios aligned with IEA climate pathways through 2035.

PARI's study explores how electricity tariffs are designed across different countries, examining global practices in cost of supply studies, tariff structures, affordability, and the impact of emerging technologies. Drawing on examples from regulated, reforming, and market-based electricity systems, it highlights how diverse regulatory and market contexts shape tariff outcomes. 

The report concludes with targeted recommendations to strengthen cost of supply practices in South Africa, supporting the development of more effective and efficient electricity tariffs. 

Pakistan’s climate finance system is marked by continued donor dependence alongside emerging domestic innovation. Finance is fragmented across multiple sources, underscoring the need for a cohesive financial governance framework and the shift from reactive, project-based climate finance towards an integrated investment strategy to enable an effective energy transition. 

SDPI’s policy paper looks at emerging Country Platforms as a strategic opportunity for Pakistan to bridge the finance gap to coordinate large-scale, aligned financing and position the country more centrally in global climate and energy transition partnerships. 

Vasudha Foundation’s paper presents equity challenges around financing a just energy transition in India. It explores the status quo of transition finance and and provides recommendations for enhancing strategic partnerships, grounded in community participation, strong monitoring and learning frameworks among financial actors.