The energy sector in many developing nations faces the difficulty of insufficient financing throughout the low-carbon transition, highlighting the importance of international green financing in alleviating financial constraints. The advancement of digital technology could facilitate green financing for energy transition in the digital economy, but this statement lacks empirical evidence. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the impact of international green financing on low-carbon energy transformation in developing nations. Additionally, we investigate the moderating role of digital economy between the two. Our findings validate the favorable impact of international green financing on low-carbon energy transformation, and this impact is particularly evident for hydro and wind energy consumption. We show that this beneficial effect is greater for low-income countries or regions with high levels of energy transition. We also provide evidence of the positive moderation effects of digital economy and find that its effects are still present in the transition to hydro and wind energy. This research helps to broaden green financing channels for the energy sector in developing countries, especially from the perspective of digital economy.

Energy efficiency has become a primary energy policy goal in Europe and many countries and has conditioned the policies towards energy-intensive sectors such as road freight transport. However, energy efficiency improvements can lead to changes in the demand for energy services that offset some of the achieved energy savings in the form of rebound effects. Consequently, forecasts of energy savings can be overstated. This paper analyses the energy efficiency and rebound effects for road freight transport in 15 European countries during the 1992–2012 period. We use a recent methodology to estimate an energy demand function using a stochastic frontier analysis approach and examine the influence of key features of rebound effect in the road freight transport sector. We obtain, on average, a fuel efficiency of 89% and a rebound effect of 4%. Our results indicate that the achieved energy efficiencies are retained to a large extent. We also find, among other results, that the rebound effect is higher in countries with higher fuel efficiency and better quality of logistics. Finally, a simulation analysis shows significant environmental externalities costs even in countries with lower rebound effect

Energy poverty remains prevalent in many African countries, hindering economic development and exacerbating social inequalities. Simultaneously, population growth throughout the continent is expected to perpetuate the already high demand for basic energy services into the coming decades. Private sector finance is increasingly regarded as a necessary ingredient to remedy Africa’s energy challenges and to stimulate the adoption of renewable energy. However, investments remain insufficient for the burgeoning infrastructure requirements of the African economies. This paper seeks to delineate the financial and non-financial drivers of investment decisions to understand better the barriers to private participation in African renewable energy projects. Using a fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach, we evaluate country-level characteristics and their influence on investor decisions. Investor confidence in regulatory effectiveness is identified as the primary concern for investors. Local capacity building and policy instruments, designed to overcome institutional rigidities, are among the preferred solutions. The findings indicate that non-financial drivers contribute to understanding Africa’s private energy investment challenges.

Energy efficiency improvement is a desirable response to growing climate change and security of energy supply concerns. This article studies the impacts of a varied set of macro-level market-oriented reforms as well as structural change on economy-wide measure of energy efficiency across a group of the transition countries. These countries experienced a rapid marketization process, which, since the early 1990s, transformed their economies from central planning towards market-driven models. We use a bias-corrected fixed-effect analysis technique to estimate this effect for the period 1990 to 2010. The results suggest that reforms aimed at market liberalization, financial sector and most infrastructure industries drove energy efficiency improvements. We find significant differences in improvements in energy efficiency between transitional Central European and Baltic States, South East Europe ones and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The reasons for these differences are also discussed