ESMAP Low Carbon Development Tools

The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) is a global knowledge and technical assistance program administered by the World Bank. Its mission is to assist low- and middle-income countries to increase know-how and institutional capacity to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growth.

Since 2007 ESMAP has provided support to 18 countries to undertake low carbon development planning, leading to the creation of three tools (TRACE, MACTool and EFFECT) that have each been deployed in several countries. The Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy (TRACE) focuses on energy efficiency in cities. Via a benchmark, it helps to identify sectors that need to be improved and offers appropriate energy efficiency measures. The Marginal Abatement Cost Tool (MACTool) helps to assess costs for avoiding GHG emissions in the energy sector, in transport, in land use change and forestry and in the waste sector, by identifying least-cost options for both mitigation and sequestration of emissions. The Energy Forecasting Framework and Emissions Consensus Tool (EFFECT) assesses impacts of policies on GHG emissions and development scenarios.

The low carbon development studies that have been informed by the deployment of these tools are also available for download from the ESMAP website, along with a range of guidance material.