Private Finance Research Articles

Using a natural capital risk register to support the funding of seagrass habitat enhancement in Plymouth Sound

Seagrass is an important marine habitat that provides benefits to society in the form of ecosystem services. Services include the provision of food via fisheries, the regulation of water quality and the ability to sequester and store carbon. In the UK, seagrass beds are in decline, increasing the risk of ecosystem service loss. Current efforts to protect, restore and create seagrass habitat, beyond spatial management measures, rely on grant funding and donations. Emerging carbon, biodiversity and wider ecosystem service markets offering potential revenue sources could facilitate the enhancement of seagrass habitat at scale. Participation in ecosystem service markets, requires that projects deliver on the ecosystem service benefits defined. As the benefits will have been paid for, there are risks associated with not delivering on ecosystem service benefits. It is important that the risk is clearly defined. In this study we further the marine natural capital and risk register approach and apply the method to a case study area to support the development of sustainable funding options for seagrass habitat enhancement in Plymouth Sound, UK. Habitat Suitability modelling is also used to map potential areas for seagrass habitat enhancement. We find that, in the Plymouth Sound area, the risk of loss of ecosystem services for subtidal seagrass habitats is, at present, high. This is primarily linked to the declining extent and condition of subtidal seagrass assets. Under current governance, all of Plymouth Sound’s subtidal seagrass are within a Marine Protected Area, though this conservation designation does not guarantee that the seagrass bed is protected from damaging activity. Under current environmental conditions there is opportunity for widespread seagrass restoration and creation. Risk to seagrass beds and any future private funding could be reduced by governance actions that enable effective direct protection of the seagrass assets and mitigate harmful pressures (e.g., reduction of water pollution). Emerging financial ‘products’ from seagrass ecosystem services that can support restoration and creation, require a high degree of integrity. The natural capital asset and risk register framework can provide information to underpin product development. With the development of revenue streams from ecosystem services there is a need for more intentional governance and site-based monitoring of these habitats as natural capital assets. Further research is needed to define any social or economic outcomes. Synthesis and Application By assessing the risk to the status of seagrass assets through this approach, it is possible to determine the complementary governance actions needed to underpin investment in seagrass habitat enhancement. The methods are transferable to other locations where data exists to define the asset status. These specific findings are relevant nationally where similar vectors of risk (pressures) are identified.

Impact of fiscal policy shocks on health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A panel structural VAR approach

This study investigates the impact of fiscal policy shocks on health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is motivated by health systems’ increasing reliance on public funding despite growing macroeconomic uncertainties. This study adopts a regional analysis, sampling five countries with the highest per capita public health expenditure from the Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western African regions. The study employs the panel structural vector autoregression technique and expresses health outcomes as a function of fiscal policy and private health expenditure shocks. The results suggest that fiscal policy shock significantly and positively affects health outcomes in Central and Western Africa. However, health outcomes are resilient to fiscal policy shock in Eastern and Southern regions and to private health expenditure shock in all regions. The study indicates that achieving sustainable improvement in health outcomes in SSA would require policies designed to expand health financing options beyond the traditional public and private funding arrangements.

Blood pressure targets for hypertension in people with chronic renal disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, development of end-stage renal disease, and all-cause mortality. It affects around 10% of the population worldwide. The prevalence of hypertension in people with CKD ranges from 22% in stage 1 to 80% in stage 4. Elevated arterial blood pressure is one of the major independent risk factors for adverse cardiovascular events. Thereby, reducing blood pressure to below standard targets may be beneficial but could also increase the risk of adverse events. The optimal blood pressure target in people with hypertension and CKD remains unknown. Primary: to compare the effects of standard and lower-than-standard blood pressure targets for hypertension in people with chronic kidney disease on mortality and morbidity outcomes. Secondary: to assess the magnitude of reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the proportion of participants reaching blood pressure targets, and the number of drugs necessary to achieve the assigned target. We used standard, extensive Cochrane search methods. We searched the Cochrane Hypertension Specialized Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, one other database, and two trial registers up to 8 February 2023. We also contacted authors of relevant papers regarding further published and unpublished work. We applied no language restrictions. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in people with hypertension and CKD that provided at least twelve months' follow-up. Eligible interventions compared lower targets for systolic/diastolic blood pressure (130/80 mmHg or lower) to standard targets for blood pressure (140 to 160/90 to 100 mmHg or lower). Participants were adults with CKD and elevated blood pressure documented in a standard way on at least two occasions, or already receiving treatment for elevated blood pressure. We used standard Cochrane methods. Our critical outcomes were: total mortality, total serious adverse events, total cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality, and progression to end-stage renal disease. Important outcomes were: participant withdrawals due to adverse effects, and number of participants with a doubling of serum creatinine level or at least a 50% reduction in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at the end of the study. We used GRADE to assess the certainty of the evidence for the critical outcomes. This review received no funding. We included six RCTs that contributed data for meta-analysis, involving 7348 participants overall (range 840 to 4733 people per study). The mean follow-up was 3.6 years (range 1.0 to 8.0 years). Three studies were publicly funded, two were privately funded, and one had both public and private funding. All RCTs provided individual participant data. None of the included studies blinded participants or clinicians because of the need to titrate antihypertensive drugs to reach a specific blood pressure target. However, an independent committee blinded to group allocation assessed clinical events in all studies. Critical outcomes. Compared with standard blood pressure targets, lower targets likely result in little to no difference in total mortality (risk ratio (RR) 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76 to 1.06; 6 studies, 7348 participants), total serious adverse events (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.08; 6 studies, 7348 participants), and total cardiovascular events (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.15; 5 studies, 6508 participants), all with moderate-certainty evidence. Compared with standard blood pressure targets, lower targets may result in little to no difference in cardiovascular mortality (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.16; 6 studies, 7348 participants) and progression to end-stage renal disease (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.11; 4 studies, 4788 participants), both with low-certainty evidence. Important outcomes. We found little to no differences in: participant withdrawals due to adverse effects; and the number of participants with a doubling of serum creatinine level, or at least a 50% reduction in GFR at the end of the study. Exploratory outcomes. Compared to the standard blood pressure target groups, participants in the lower target groups achieved lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure values after one year, and required a higher number of antihypertensive drugs at the end of the studies. A higher proportion of participants in the standard blood pressure target groups achieved the targets they were assigned than did participants in the intensive target groups. Compared to a standard blood pressure target, lower blood pressure targets probably result in little to no difference in total mortality, total serious adverse events, and total cardiovascular events, and may result in little to no difference in total cardiovascular mortality or in the progression to end-stage renal disease in people with hypertension and CKD. However, the evidence underpinning these conclusions has several limitations. All studies were open design, blood pressure measurement was performed at a medical office, and there was scant information about adverse events. Future research should include high-quality adverse event data, report results for people with different levels of proteinuria, and consider out-of-office blood pressure monitoring. Several studies are ongoing, and may provide new evidence for this topic in the near future.

Financing green innovation startups: a systematic literature review on early-stage SME funding

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the critical issue of financing early-stage green startups, examining the types of investors and finance models available, the challenges these startups face, and how the green finance ecosystem can better support early-stage investment. Utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape. Our findings reveal a significant paucity of data and a bias towards well-established North American and European ecosystems, while highlighting an emerging diversity in private finance sources post-Global financial crisis (GFC), including grants, equity, and crowdfunding. Despite this, there remains a heavy reliance on public funding and a lack of evidence regarding its impact. The inherent characteristics of cleantech – high capital expenditure, long investment horizons, and disruptive nature – necessitate innovative public financing instruments and policies to reduce risk and attract private investment. Our theoretical contribution highlights the necessity for interdisciplinary research and policy collaboration to develop a holistic entrepreneurial finance (entfin) ecosystem. This approach should integrate quantitative economic and qualitative behavioural finance research to address information asymmetries and improve the green economy policy mix. Such a framework will support public-private co-financing, enhance stakeholder engagement, and provide evidence for policy decisions, facilitating more rapid commercialization of cleantech innovations for environmental sustainability.

Improving National and International Surveillance of Movement Behaviours in Childhood and Adolescence: An International Modified Delphi Study.

The actions required to achieve higher-quality and harmonised global surveillance of child and adolescent movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour including screen time, sleep) are unclear. To identify how to improve surveillance of movement behaviours, from the perspective of experts. This Delphi Study involved 62 experts from the SUNRISE International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years and Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA). Two survey rounds were used, with items categorised under: (1) funding, (2) capacity building, (3) methods, and (4) other issues (e.g., policymaker awareness of relevant WHO Guidelines and Strategies). Expert participants ranked 40 items on a five-point Likert scale from 'extremely' to 'not at all' important. Consensus was defined as > 70% rating of 'extremely' or 'very' important. We received 62 responses to round 1 of the survey and 59 to round 2. There was consensus for most items. The two highest rated round 2 items in each category were the following; for funding (1) it was greater funding for surveillance and public funding of surveillance; for capacity building (2) it was increased human capacity for surveillance (e.g. knowledge, skills) and regional or global partnerships to support national surveillance; for methods (3) it was standard protocols for surveillance measures and improved measurement method for screen time; and for other issues (4) it was greater awareness of physical activity guidelines and strategies from WHO and greater awareness of the importance of surveillance for NCD prevention. We generally found no significant differences in priorities between low-middle-income (n = 29) and high-income countries (n = 30) or between SUNRISE (n = 20), AHKGA (n = 26) or both (n = 13) initiatives. There was a lack of agreement on using private funding for surveillance or surveillance research. This study provides a prioritised and international consensus list of actions required to improve surveillance of movement behaviours in children and adolescents globally.

Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice: Policy Statement.

Reading together often with infants and young children strengthens their relationships with parents/caregivers at a critical time in child development, stimulating brain circuitry and early attachment. A positive parenting practice, shared reading helps build the foundation for healthy social-emotional, cognitive, language, and literacy development, setting the stage for school readiness and providing enduring benefits across the life course. Pediatric physicians and advanced care providers have a unique opportunity to encourage parents/caregivers to establish routines and enjoy conversations around books and stories with their children beginning in infancy. Research has demonstrated that parents read and children learn when pediatricians offer literacy promotion as a practical and evidence-based primary prevention strategy in primary care practice to support early brain and child development. This supports families with a strengths-based approach, shaping a child's life trajectory and helping mitigate stress and adverse experiences. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that pediatricians encourage shared reading beginning at birth and continuing at least through kindergarten as a strategy for supporting parents/caregivers, enhancing foundational relationships, promoting positive language-rich interactions, and helping families create a nurturing and stimulating home environment. The integration of literacy promotion into pediatric resident education is crucial to achieve that goal and thus is also essential. The AAP supports advocacy toward establishing public and private funding for diverse high-quality, developmentally appropriate children's books in the languages preferred by the family to be provided at pediatric health supervision visits to all children, but especially to children living in underresourced communities. This statement is supported by multiple AAP policies and implementation resources, including the accompanying "Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice: Technical Report."

Best Practices for Researching, Organizing and Disseminating Private Funding Opportunities

Best Practices for Researching, Organizing and Disseminating Private Funding Opportunities

Should Patients Be Allowed to Pay Out of Pocket? The Ethical Dilemma of Access to Expensive Anti-cancer Treatments in Universal Healthcare Systems: A Dutch Case Study.

With the increasing prices of newly approved anti-cancer treatments contributing to rising healthcare costs, healthcare systems are facing complex economic and ethical dilemmas. Especially in countries with universal access and mandatory health insurance, including many European countries, the organizing of funding or reimbursement of expensive new treatments can be challenging. When expensive anti-cancer treatments are deemed safe and effective, but are not (yet) reimbursed, ethical dilemmas arise. In countries with universal healthcare systems, such as the Netherlands, this gives rise to a rather new ethical dilemma: should patients be allowed to pay out of pocket, using private funds, for medical treatments? On the one hand, to allow patients to pay for treatments out of pocket would be in line with the medical-ethical principles of beneficence and autonomy. On the other hand, allowing patients to pay out of pocket for anti-cancer treatments may lead to unequal access to medical treatments and could be considered unfair to patients who are less well-off. Thus, it could undermine the values of equality and solidarity, on which the Dutch healthcare system is built. Furthermore, out-of-pocket payments could potentially lead to financial hardship and distress for patients, which would conflict with the principle of non-maleficence. Does this mean that patients can rightfully be denied access to approved but not (yet) reimbursed anti-cancer treatments? In this article, we will use the Dutch healthcare system, which is based on equal access and solidarity, as a case study to draw attention to this-currently relatively unknown and unresolved-dilemma and to clarify the values at stake. This article contributes to current discussions about the societal problem of rising healthcare costs by informing policymakers, healthcare professionals, and ethicists about the ethical dilemma of out-of-pocket payments in universal healthcare systems, and aims to support health authorities, policymakers and health professionals in developing policy for whether to allow out-of-pocket payment-based access to newly approved but (too) expensive anti-cancer treatments.

A Comment on the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy of the Russian Federation

The article discusses the text of the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy of Russia approved in early 2024. The author notes that it was prepared in accordance with the Federal Law “On Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation” of June 28, 2014, No. 172-FZ. The Strategy replaces a number of documents that have been adopted earlier. The expert community have different opinions on the preparation quality of concepts, strategies, programs and other strategic documents being approved. The reason lies in the absence of a clear system and hierarchy of strategic planning documents. In the Strategy under discussion, there is a vagueness of the used conceptual framework and some shortcomings in the analytical part of the document. In addition, the authors of the Strategy connect the issues of the development of the science and technology sector in the Russian Federation mainly with external challenges and threats and pay less attention to internal problems caused primarily by the inefficiency of the R&D management system, insufficient financing and a low proportion of private funding. It is shown that no significant changes are expected in the management system of scientific and technological development in Russia in the next decade. We can welcome the establishment of the Science and Technology Council of the Commission for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation under the Russian Government and its machinery and the introduction of the model of “qualified customer”, as well as the use of new tools: long-term fundamental academic research programs and programs of scientific and technological development of Russia. But the discussed Strategy does not pay enough attention to the issues of education and training of research and engineering personnel.

Private Funding at High-Level Elections: the Costa Rican Case for Explaining Vote Increase

Este estudio analiza el papel del financiamiento privado y público en la determinación de los resultados electorales en Costa Rica, con un enfoque en el período de 2010 a 2020. Basado en datos de múltiples ciclos electorales, la investigación explora cómo las contribuciones financieras influyen en el éxito de los partidos políticos en un sistema de financiamiento mixto donde tanto los fondos estatales como los privados juegan roles significativos. El análisis revela que el financiamiento privado es un fuerte predictor del desempeño electoral, especialmente en elecciones a nivel nacional, donde se correlaciona significativamente con la cantidad de votos obtenidos. El número de donantes individuales también emerge como un factor importante, reflejando un mayor apoyo público y contribuyendo al éxito electoral. Además, el estudio encuentra que los partidos que compiten a nivel nacional se benefician de una mayor visibilidad y la capacidad de acumular votos a lo largo de diferentes elecciones, lo que mejora aún más sus perspectivas electorales. La interacción entre el financiamiento público y privado destaca la complejidad del sistema de financiamiento electoral de Costa Rica, sugiriendo que los partidos que aprovechan efectivamente ambas fuentes de financiamiento tienen más probabilidades de tener éxito. Estos hallazgos tienen importantes implicaciones para comprender la dinámica del financiamiento político en democracias emergentes y subrayan la necesidad de continuar los esfuerzos para garantizar la transparencia y equidad en los procesos electorales. El estudio concluye discutiendo las implicaciones más amplias de estos resultados para los sistemas electorales en América Latina y sugiere áreas para futuras investigaciones.

Data sharing policies across health research globally: Cross-sectional meta-research study.

Data sharing improves the value, synthesis, and integrity of research, but rates are low. Data sharing might be improved if data sharing policies were prominent and actionable at every stage of research. We aimed to systematically describe the epidemiology of data sharing policies across the health research lifecycle. This was a cross-sectional analysis of the data sharing policies of the largest health research funders, all national ethics committees, all clinical trial registries, the highest-impact medical journals, and all medical research data repositories. Stakeholders' official websites, online reports, and other records were reviewed up to May 2022. The strength and characteristics of their data sharing policies were assessed, including their policies on data sharing intention statements (a.k.a. data accessibility statements) and on data sharing specifically for coronavirus disease studies. Data were manually extracted in duplicate, and policies were descriptively analysed by their stakeholder and characteristics. Nine hundred and thirty-five eligible stakeholders were identified: 110 funders, 124 ethics committees, 18 trial registries, 273 journals, and 410 data repositories. Data sharing was required by 41% (45/110) of funders, no ethics committees or trial registries, 19% (52/273) of journals and 6% (24/410) of data repositories. Among funder types, a higher proportion of private (63%, 35/55) and philanthropic (67%, 4/6) funders required data sharing than public funders (12%, 6/49). Data sharing requirements, and even recommendations, were insufficient across health research. Where data sharing was required or recommended, there was limited guidance on implementation. We describe multiple pathways to improve the implementation of data sharing. Public funders and ethics committees are two stakeholders with particularly important untapped opportunities.

The importance of strategic planning documents of the Russian Federation for the financial and legal regulation of public and private finance (using the example of the financial market)

Within the framework of the presented article, the system of strategic planning documents at the federal level in the desired area (financial market) is analyzed, on the basis of which the influence of these acts on the emergence and functioning of financial and legal institutions, including those of a complex nature, is clarified. The position is substantiated, according to which, through strategic planning documents, the purposefulness of financial activities is ensured, its compliance with the general long-term tasks of the state at the present stage. It is concluded that these documents, unlike a number of general and special principles of financial law that have not found normative consolidation, being formally defined, act as a vector for the creation and improvement of financial and legal norms. The assumption is confirmed that through the analyzed documents, the subsequent implementation of the principles of financial law is ensured both from the point of view of goal-setting and from the point of view of financial security of the relevant actions. The special role of the annual messages of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation as a starting point for further development of legislation and management decisions in the field of financial activity is substantiated.

Trends and Rates of Reporting of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Determinants of Health in Spine Surgery Randomized Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review.

A systematic review. We characterized the rates of sociodemographic data and social determinants of health (SDOH) reported in spinal surgery randomized control trials (RCTs) and the association between these RCTs' characteristics and their rates of reporting on race, ethnicity, and SDOH variables. Although numerous institutions maintain guidelines and recommendations regarding the inclusion and reporting of sociodemographic and SDOH variables in RCTs, the proportion of studies that ultimately report such information is unclear, particularly in spine surgery. We searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, and Embase databases for published results from spinal surgery RCTs from January 2002 through December 2022, and screened studies according to prespecified inclusion criteria regarding analysis and reporting of sociodemographic and SDOH variables. We analyzed 421 studies. Ninety-six studies (22.8%) reported race, ethnicity, or SDOH covariates. On multivariate analysis, study size [rate ratio (RR)=1.18; 95% CI, 1.06-1.32], public/institutional funding (RR=2.28; 95% CI, 1.29-4.04), and private funding (RR=3.27; 95% CI, 1.87-5.74) were significantly associated with reporting race, ethnicity, or SDOH variables. Study size (RR=1.26; 95% CI, 1.07-1.48) and North American region (RR=21.84; CI, 5.04-94.64) were associated with a higher probability of reporting race and/or ethnicity. Finally, study size (RR=1.27; 95% CI, 1.10-1.46), public/institutional funding (RR=2.68; 95% CI, 1.33-5.39), focus on rehabilitation/therapy intervention (RR=2.70; 95% CI, 1.40-5.21), and nonblinded study groups (RR=2.70; 95% CI, 1.40-5.21) were associated with significantly higher probability of reporting employment status. Rates of reporting race, ethnicity, and SDOH variables were lower in the spinal surgery RCTs in our study than in RCTs in other medical disciplines. These reporting rates did not increase over a 20-year period. Trial characteristics significantly associated with higher rates of reporting were larger study size, North American region, private or public funding, and a focus on behavioral/rehabilitation interventions. Level III.

Investigating the Impacts of Carbon Pricing Mechanism on CCS development in ASEAN countries

Abstract Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology that contributes toward a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from large point sources. It has been proven to be a crucial technology to decarbonise ASEAN’s hard-to-abate industry sector. ASEAN countries are a concentrated cluster, contributing to significant emissions, and provides the potential for suitable geological storage for CCS according to current studies. This paper discusses the impact of carbon pricing on the CCS development in ASEAN countries, through studying factors that enable or disable successful CCS projects. Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), as a part of system dynamics, was employed as an analytical tool to identify and visualize the key variables, system’s structure, the network of existing carbon pricing mechanisms and other financing instruments needed in CCS deployment. The results of this study indicate that strong public and private finance, the development of carbon markets, and carbon pricing policies are the key enablers for CCS projects in ASEAN. Carbon pricing should be viewed as an effective catalyst that helps the growth of CCS with the right policies in place, government and regulatory support, and market forces.

Combating Corruption in Business: A Comparative Analysis of National and International Efforts

We have identified that the research problem lies in the limited focus of most international and national concepts and efforts on combating corruption, which mainly aim to preserve public money and the prestige of public office. This is reflected in the issuance of legislation and the development of plans and policies that primarily target prevention and law enforcement in the face of corruption. However, these efforts are relatively narrow and do not adequately address the need to protect the private sector, private funds, and individuals who are not public employees in the business field. It is important to correct these concepts and trends to support better anti-corruption efforts more objectively and comprehensively. Keywords: Corruption, Development, Business Environment, Egypt.

China’s International Climate-Related Finance Provision and Mobilization for South-South Cooperation

This paper discusses the climate finance mobilized by China to support developing countries' climate actions. It examines China’s climate finance through various channels: bilateral public finance, multilateral public finance, export credits, and mobilized private finance, to estimate how much finance was provided and mobilized from 2013 to 2022.

Employee Compensation of Nonprofit Child Welfare Agencies in New York: Crises and Strategies

ABSTRACTWhile existing literature documents the low compensation of nonprofit human services workers, it is not well understood how managers of these organizations perceive and respond to the problem. Adopting resource dependency and competing institutional logics perspectives, we chose the New York nonprofit child welfare sector—a heavily government‐funded field—as a collective case to study these issues. Based on interviews with 17 leaders of the primary NY nonprofit child welfare agencies, we found that these agencies' employee compensation was primarily constrained by government contracts, and they were torn by conflicting institutional logics from the state, the labor market, private funders, and unions. Overall, government contracts and market competition determined worker pay, and nonprofit child welfare agencies faced labor competition not only from peer organizations, but also from the government and for‐profit sectors. With the “great resignation” atmosphere and increased cost of living intensified by the COVID‐19 pandemic, agencies were under tremendous pressure to raise worker pay. However, programs chronically underfunded by the government were incapable of providing competitive wages and were experiencing high staff turnover and vacancies. Agency leaders agreed on the need to push the government to pay programs adequately but disagreed about advocacy goals and messaging. Most leaders had reservations about aggressive collective bargaining measures such as “going on strike.” These common but attenuated labor dynamics, related managerial responses, and implications for the future of the sector are discussed, particularly in response to competing institutional pressures.

The circular bioeconomy of the olive oil industry: Deterministic and probabilistic profitability of olive mill by-product gasification

In the novel paradigm of the circular economy the value of products, materials, and resources is retained in the economy for as long as possible, thereby minimizing waste generation. In this context, the olive oil producing countries are presented with a new opportunity that lies in the large amount of by-products generated by the olive oil industry, in particular olive pomace. Among the existing options for valorizing it, gasification is a technically proven and economically viable process, especially for moderately high energy prices. This research aims to analyze the profitability of olive pomace gasification, identifying the main uncertainty factors that determine said profitability. To that end, sensitivity analyses and probabilistic scenario analyses using the Monte Carlo method are conducted for the first time in this research context. The results show a positive profit margin of €19.27 per ton of milled olives, a Net Present Value (NPV) of €453,067, and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 9.7 %. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the electricity price is the main determinant of profitability, while other factors, such as the biomass price or the sale of by-products (biochar), are less important. The Monte Carlo analysis reveals the uncertainty involved in these types of projects, showing that the probability of the investment being profitable (NPV>0) is only 25.1 %. The assessment evidences that this kind of projects presents high capital needs and strongly uncertain profitability, recommending the implementation of public and private green finance instruments to overcome high-capital barriers and de-risk these investments.

The global cost of international commitments on land restoration

AbstractLand restoration and sustainable land management projects have now been proposed for up to a billion hectares globally, responding to continuous land degradation processes. But, a lack of reliable cost estimates hinders implementation, which results in a high perceived risk of restoration investments. This study addresses this gap, using cost data from 243 restoration projects from multiple sources to estimate the cost ranges for different types of restoration more precisely. The analysis shows median restoration costs vary from 185 $US/ha to 3012 $US/ha depending on the restoration measure, implying current global land restoration commitment cost 0.04%–0.27% of annual global GDP to implement. Since the majority of these commitments are made by developing countries, international cost‐sharing mechanisms, through climate or private finance, are required to move from goal setting to implementation.

Initial study of the Palu-Parigi By-pass road policy in Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

This research aims to do the assessing the feasibility of the Public-Private Partnership project in investing in the construction of the Palu-Parigi By-pass road through a PPP financing scheme, thereby providing opportunities for the private sector to participate in the provision of special road infrastructure. In this context, experimental criteria for determining Value for Money (VFM) are applied using the PPP model, to evaluate projects. The main objective also emphasizes the provision of greater VFM Goods through private financing, through conventional methods that are economical, efficient and effective. Furthermore, financial performance measurement reports apply several methods, including Payback Period (PP), Net Present Value (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) which determine the feasibility and time required for returns on invested capital. The previous Economic Feasibility Study of the Palu-Parigi By-pass Road Construction project also showed an EIRR value of 20.1% in 2014, illustrating the economic development of this work. In connection with the limitations currently faced by the Regional Budget Agency of Central Sulawesi Province, the next PPP scheme is recommended for road construction by prioritizing infrastructure completion after the 28 September 2018 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic. The DBFMT (Design–Build–Finance–Maintenance–Transfer) model was also applied to the project, with GCA responsible for design, construction, financing, periodic maintenance and transfer at the end of the collaboration agreement.