Agora and INETTT: Empowerment through open-source energy modeling
Energy planners have long relied on commercial software, which has played a key role in guiding power sector decisions. However, the high licensing costs, limited transparency, and software lock-in of these tools often constrain local analytical capacity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries—making it harder to independently assess long-term decarbonization pathways and investment needs.
To address this, Agora has launched PyPSA-SPICE, a fully open-source energy model builder. Developed on the widely used PyPSA framework, PyPSA-SPICE focuses on policy relevance, customizability, and usability. It enables transparent scenario design and integrated capacity expansion analysis, empowering policymakers, civil society organizations, and researchers to run and adapt their own energy models. Through targeted trainings with the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks (INETTT), Agora has also been working with local partners to strengthen technical expertise and reduce reliance on external consultants and proprietary modeling tools.PyPSA-SPICE has already informed several of Agora’s national transition analyses, including in Kazakhstan, Mexico, and across Southeast Asia, supporting a least-cost, science-based planning tool that helps policymakers compare scenarios, justify investment decisions, and build confidence in long-term clean energy strategies.
Agora Industry research features prominently in German hydrogen diplomacy newsletter
Four Agora publications were recently featured in a single issue of H2-diplo, the newsletter published by the German development agency GIZ on behalf of the German Foreign Office and read by decision-makers engaged in hydrogen diplomacy and industrial transformation across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central Asia.
One of the reports, “Achieving climate-neutral steel by 2050,” identifies H2 direct reduced iron as critical to decarbonizing primary steel—potentially requiring up to 50 million tons of new annual capacity by the late 2030s and thus necessitating coordinated action across the entire value chain both domestically and internationally. A second report finds that decentralized renewables-based fertilizer production can enhance resilience and competitiveness in emerging economies. Another featured study shows that Germany’s chemicals industry can replace fossil feedstocks through bioeconomy and recycling while safeguarding competitiveness. And an included brief outlines the cost, climate, and security benefits of coordinated EU-wide infrastructure planning to shift from fossil fuel imports (costing €350 billion in 2024) to domestic renewables and electrification.
As governments worldwide shape green industrial strategies to implement their nationally determined contributions, diversify trade partnerships, and advance infrastructure investments, Agora’s timely analysis can inform key policy windows, aligning competitiveness, resilience, and decarbonization across regions.
Brighter streets, lower emissions: Brazil’s streetlight upgrade saves energy & public funds
Brazil’s National Energy Conservation Program, PROCEL, recently strengthened the efficiency requirements for LED streetlights, raising the performance requirement of its efficient products endorsement label by 83 percent and setting a new, world-leading level for streetlight efficiency. Brazil’s PROCEL seal certifies energy-efficient products, and the government must prioritize buying them—pushing manufacturers to improve efficiency to win public contracts.
CLASP provided technical support by analyzing international best practices, reviewing product data, calculating impacts, and facilitating workshops with local stakeholders.
At the same time, PROCEL is funding and implementing a major national streetlighting retrofit, which CLASP will be supporting. Only LED lights that meet the updated requirements can be used, ensuring public lighting is high-performing, energy efficient, and less expensive to run. In 60 municipalities across the country, outdated sodium lamps will be replaced with high-efficiency LEDs.
The potential impact of the revised levels is significant: if widely adopted, the retrofit could save municipalities around US$860 million by 2035, while also reducing electricity consumption by 7 terawatt-hours and CO₂ emissions by 3 million tons.
UK expands Emissions Trading Scheme to domestic shipping, covering 2.5 Mt CO₂e and generating up to £173 million annually
The U.K.’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)—a system that caps emissions from various sectors and charges polluters a carbon price—initially excluded domestic shipping, leaving the sector entirely unregulated. In 2023, domestic shipping emitted 5.2 million tons of CO₂e, with fuel costs reflecting none of the environmental harm caused.
In 2024, ICCT responded to the U.K. ETS Authority’s consultation on the scope of the policy and presented analysis demonstrating the benefits of broadening the scheme to members of the U.K. government, helping decision-makers understand the potential emissions coverage and revenue from maritime expansion.
In November 2025, the U.K. announced it would expand the ETS to cover domestic shipping emissions from commercial vessels of 5,000 gross tonnage or more, beginning July 2026. ICCT research estimates this could cover 2.5 million tons CO₂e and generate £138–£173 million annually.
Further expansion remains possible. The U.K. ETS Authority has since released an open consultation, to which ICCT also responded, on the inclusion of international voyage emissions from 2028. ICCT research shows that, combined with covering smaller vessels, this could result in a fourfold increase in emissions coverage and revenue.
Advancing energy-efficient buildings in South India
GBPN recently set up a Decarbonization Solution Centre in Kerala, India, and appointed a Building Decarbonization Officer (BDO) to lead its work. The Centre and the BDO are embedded within the Energy Management Centre, Kerala, the state-designated agency responsible for implementing low-carbon and energy efficiency regulations for buildings in the state.
Because building codes involve many actors, implementation can break down without clear coordination. The Centre will act as a single point of contact for policymakers, regulators, and builders, linking them with GBPN’s technical expertise and supporting the integration of Eco Niwas Samhita (ENS 2024) for residential buildings and the Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code for commercial buildings into the approval processes through GBPN’s e-Compliance platform. It will also support capacity building, grant proposal development, and peer learning to strengthen low-carbon, healthy, and resilient construction practices in the state.
As part of this collaboration, GBPN hosted two stakeholder consultations during the International Energy Festival Kerala 2026 in Kochi. The consultations brought together more than 50 representatives from government and industry to advance building decarbonization efforts in Kerala. Insights from these discussions are informing the development of Kerala’s building decarbonization strategy.
ITDP Indonesia and the World Bank Advocate for Gender-Inclusive Transport Policies
Earlier this year, ITDP Indonesia, the World Bank, and UN Women partnered to convene national and local stakeholders in Jakarta to review policy measures for preventing gender-based violence (GBV) in public transport. Drawing on research conducted last year across six large Indonesian cities, the “Toward Safe and Equitable Mobility” consultation focused on a four-pillar framework that will inform nationwide standards on GBV prevention, reporting mechanisms, institutional coordination, and enforcement.
ITDP Indonesia played a major role in translating research into action, including mandatory operator protocols, improved complaint systems, gender-sensitive service designs, and the integration of safety into service contracts. When such measures are embedded into regulations, budgeting, and other standards, women—who make up a significant share of Indonesia’s transit riders—are more likely to choose public transport trips over other modes.
In Jakarta and other major cities, this has many implications for not just accessibility, but also urban emissions reduction. Integrating GBV concerns into public transport regulations can increase overall ridership, support mode shift, improve system viability, and reduce dependence on two-wheelers and cars. ITDP Indonesia plans to continue working with these institutional partners to strengthen social and gender equity as part of Indonesia’s long-term climate and mobility policies.
Events around the Alliance
Launch of GreenCape’s annual Western Cape market intelligence reports
GreenCape is hosting a virtual launch of its 2026 green economy market intelligence report for the Western Cape region on March 23rd. These annual reports provide an overview of the renewable energy, water, and sustainable agriculture markets, including key developments and achievements, key players, legislation and regulations, and investment opportunities. Join to learn more about South Africa’s transition challenges and opportunities! Register here.
