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This discussion document outlines South Africa's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) as of August 2015, detailing the country's planned approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The document emphasizes a 'peak, plateau and decline' emissions trajectory and stresses that climate action must be balanced with the national priority of eliminating poverty and inequality by 2030.

This report describes the 'Energy, Ecodevelopment and Resilience in Africa (EERA)' project, which implemented a 'Smart Energy Path' methodology in Benin, Mali, and Togo. The project focused on creating environmentally sustainable and resilient energy services through a multi-sectoral, participatory decision-making process that prioritizes collective energy services over individual household access.

This research paper examines how the scale of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon shifted from large to small patches between 2002 and 2012. The authors find that the DETER monitoring system, which cannot detect clearings under 25 hectares, led to different behavioral adaptations in Mato Grosso and Pará. In Mato Grosso, large landowners shifted to smaller clearings to avoid detection. In Pará, smallholders remained less visible to law enforcement, leading to a relative increase in the share of deforestation attributable to small properties. The paper concludes that conservation policies must be tailored to regional heterogeneities to be effective.

This research paper analyzes the relationship between agricultural land use and deforestation in the Tapajós basin of the Brazilian Amazon from 2002 to 2012. The author finds that an increase in the relative price of crops (specifically soy) compared to beef encourages the conversion of pasture to cropland, which in turn reduces local deforestation rates.

This research paper provides a conceptual framework for UNFCCC Parties to define and measure progress toward the $100 billion climate finance commitment. It identifies five key variables—motivation, concessionality/source, causality, geographic origin, and recipient—and uses "onion diagrams" to map the level of political consensus for different types of financial flows. The paper also highlights critical accounting issues (such as committed vs. disbursed funds and nominal vs. subsidy costs) and the lack of a unified definition for "new and additional" finance, arguing that stakeholders should agree on principles before focusing on quantitative totals.

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) outlines the federal fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for light-duty and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the United States from 2007 to 2027. It details the legislative history starting with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the subsequent regulatory actions by the EPA and NHTSA, and the projected economic and environmental benefits of these standards.

This research paper examines different ownership and operation models for distributed energy resources (DERs), evaluating utility-centric, third-party-centric, and customer-centric approaches. Through various case studies, the author argues that any of these models can optimize the electricity system if they prioritize fair compensation, transparency, and adaptability to new technologies.

This research paper analyzes the impact of currency risk on infrastructure projects in developing markets, arguing that hard currency loans from International Financing Institutions (IFIs) create dangerous asset-liability mismatches. The authors propose that IFIs shift their strategy from direct lending to developing local capital markets and providing credit guarantees. This approach aims to leverage private commercial capital and reduce the financial burden on host governments and end-users.

This policy brief examines the impact of human migration on the Bale Mountains ecosystem in southeast Ethiopia, specifically focusing on the Harenna Forest. By comparing the woredas of Harenna Buluk and Delo Mena, the document analyzes how political pull factors and economic push factors drive migration, leading to accelerated deforestation, biodiversity loss, and a shift from traditional pastoralism to profit-oriented crop farming. The authors propose several policy interventions, including the regulation of informal land markets, the use of flagship species for conservation, and the development of sustainable livelihoods such as tourism.

This report examines the impact of migration, primarily from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on the Lake Albert ecosystem in Buliisa District, Uganda. It highlights how the influx of low-cost migrant labor and increased market demand have led to severe overfishing, the degradation of aquatic biodiversity, and the failure of local fisheries co-management structures.

This research paper examines the allocation of revenue risks and rewards in public-private partnerships (PPPs) for road infrastructure. It argues that optimal risk allocation—where risk is borne by the party best positioned to manage it—maximizes value for money (VFM) and reduces total costs to society. The author analyzes mechanisms for protecting concessionaires from downside revenue risks (e.g., minimum revenue guarantees) and preventing excessive private returns through upside revenue sharing (e.g., revenue caps).

This policy brief analyzes the 2015 United Nations peacebuilding review, which advocates for a shift from 'post-conflict peacebuilding' to a holistic approach termed 'sustaining peace.' The authors examine how UN member states can implement these recommendations to prioritize conflict prevention and address the root causes of conflict through better coordination between UN organs and increased partnerships with regional organizations.

This August 2015 report from the Institute for Security Studies provides an analysis of the African Union Peace and Security Council's (PSC) activities, focusing on the postponed field mission to Burundi, security challenges facing AMISOM in Somalia, the AU's stance on universal jurisdiction regarding a Rwandan official, and internal restructuring efforts within the AU Commission.

This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) details eight case studies of deep energy retrofits implemented via Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) in federal and municipal settings. It identifies six best practices for achieving significant energy reductions—averaging 58% across the highlighted projects—without upfront capital costs or Congressional appropriations.

This executive summary from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) analyzes the economic potential of "demand flexibility" (DF)—the use of technology to shift electricity consumption to lower-cost times. The report argues that DF can significantly reduce both customer electric bills and overall grid investment costs by treating demand as a flexible resource ("flexiwatts") rather than a static load.

The Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals, published by RMI in August 2015, provides a framework for healthcare administrators in the Caribbean to reduce operating costs and improve facility resilience through deep energy retrofits. The guide outlines a three-step process—Find, Finance, and Follow-through—and introduces a complementary online tool to help facilities benchmark performance and identify energy efficiency measures (EEMs).

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the Makeni bioenergy project in Sierra Leone, developed by Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL). It analyzes the project's impact on rural transformation, focusing on how a large-scale agro-industrial investment affects livelihoods, infrastructure, and socio-economic conditions in a region characterized by high poverty and limited government capacity.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the Makeni Project in Sierra Leone, a €400 million agro-industrial investment by Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL). The project focuses on sugarcane production for ethanol export and electricity generation. While the investment has provided significant infrastructure, jobs, and agricultural training, the brief highlights risks regarding land access, local skill gaps, and a lack of government oversight that limits the project's potential for comprehensive rural transformation.

This technical note describes the methodology used by the World Resources Institute to create country-level projections of water stress for 2020, 2030, and 2040. By aggregating sub-catchment data using spatially weighted water-withdrawal grids, the tool provides rankings across three IPCC-based scenarios (optimistic, business-as-usual, and pessimistic). The results identify countries at extreme risk, while the authors caution that national averages can mask significant sub-national variations and do not reflect the impact of local water governance.

Friends of the Earth argues that the U.S. federal coal leasing program is non-competitive, financially outdated, and climate-destructive. The organization calls for a halt to lease sales until reforms are enacted, including closing royalty loopholes, incorporating the social cost of carbon into pricing, and establishing public interest criteria for leases, asserting that most fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground to avoid climate catastrophe.