Everyone agrees that enhanced transparency—on payments, revenues, royalties and taxes—is essential to success in developing countries to turn earnings from oil, gas and mining into economic growth and poverty reduction. But that’s just the first step.
Indonesia is estimated to have the largest geothermal potential in the world – 27,000 megawatts, or roughly 40 percent of total global geothermal resources. But currently, only 4 percent of that potential is being used to produce electricity. Even at the current level of development, however, Indonesia is the third largest geothermal producer in the world in terms of installed capacity, following the United States and the Philippines.
Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and South Africa are among the world’s largest emerging economies. And in the past five years, all have made substantive shifts towards lower-carbon growth strategies – shifts that are still underway. In 2007, these countries represented 33 percent of global CO2 emissions. By 2010, three of them – Brazil, China and India – accounted for over 40 percent of global investment in renewable energy.
