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This briefing, based on a 2014 workshop in Nairobi, examines the potential for low-carbon energy options to expand energy access in Africa. It discusses the financial requirements for universal access, the barriers to adopting renewables, and the potential for low-carbon solutions to align with broader development goals such as health, employment, and national energy sovereignty.

This report summarizes an expert workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 10-11, 2014, organized by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). The workshop, part of the New Climate Economy project, examined the synergies and trade-offs between expanding modern energy access and mitigating climate change, focusing primarily on the African context.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzes the effectiveness of deforestation policies in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2011. It argues that while command-and-control measures successfully reduced deforestation among large landowners, they are less effective for smallholders and in remote areas, necessitating a shift toward incentive-based and tailored strategies.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the effectiveness of deforestation policies in the Brazilian Amazon, noting a significant reduction in deforestation from 2004 to 2012 followed by stagnation and a rise in 2013. The authors argue that while command-and-control measures successfully targeted large landowners, new incentive-based strategies are required to address deforestation by smallholders and in remote areas.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the role of carbon finance in scaling up improved cookstove projects in India and Kenya. Based on a review of 75 project design documents and 49 stakeholder interviews, the study explores how carbon revenues are used to overcome barriers to adoption and implementation, while highlighting the risks associated with relying on volatile carbon markets.

This policy brief describes a project by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) using a 'nexus approach' to analyze the interdependencies between water, energy, and food in Ethiopia's Upper Blue Nile region. By applying the WEAP-LEAP toolkit to the Lake Tana and Beles River basins, the project compared three development scenarios—Business-as-usual, National plans, and a Nexus scenario—to identify trade-offs between agricultural expansion, hydropower generation, and environmental sustainability.

This policy brief examines the early implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Cambodia. It identifies that while SAICM has provided a vision for chemicals management and spurred the development of new legislation and coordination mechanisms, significant barriers remain, including a lack of ground-level enforcement capacity and long-term funding. The document also critiques the global monitoring system of SAICM, arguing that its current indicators are insufficient to measure progress toward the '2020 goal' of minimizing adverse impacts on health and the environment.

This policy brief evaluates the implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Tanzania. Based on interviews with 17 stakeholders and a review of government documents, the study finds that while SAICM has positively influenced national chemicals management across its five objectives, significant risks persist in the informal sector and agricultural industry, and national coordination among senior officials remains a challenge.

This policy brief summarizes the findings of the GES-REG project, which aimed to harmonize the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in the central and north-eastern Baltic Sea. The project focused on improving Economic and Social Analysis (ESA) to help Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Sweden develop cost-effective Programmes of Measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020.

This 2014 report evaluates the implementation of four biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in Tanzania. While the country possesses a strong legal and policy framework, overall implementation effectiveness is rated as moderate due to gaps in financing, monitoring, and enforcement. The report highlights a disparity in success between agreements, noting that while the CBD is performing well, CITES faces severe challenges from poaching and corruption. Despite the economic benefits of biodiversity through tourism, these gains rarely reach local communities.

This research synthesis brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) outlines the organization's work on climate change adaptation and vulnerability. It emphasizes that vulnerability is primarily driven by socioeconomic and political conditions rather than climate exposure alone, and argues that adaptation and development are inextricably linked. The document details SEI's technical support, capacity-building initiatives like weADAPT, and regional projects across Asia and the Nordic countries, while highlighting the inherent limits of adaptation.

This research synthesis brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) outlines the organization's work on climate finance and carbon markets, focusing on the governance of adaptation finance, the limitations of private sector investment in vulnerable regions, and the environmental integrity of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

This research synthesis brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) examines the challenges of managing chemicals for sustainable development, focusing on the gap in chemical safety between developed and developing nations, the role of international agreements like SAICM, and the need for new hazard assessments to address planetary boundary threats.

This fact sheet describes the implementation of the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model, integrated with QUAL2K, to study water quality in the La Vieja river basin in Colombia. The study identifies primary pollutant sources, analyzes climate and demographic uncertainties, and simulates water quality scenarios to support decision-making and adaptation to climate change.

This 2014 policy report by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the water-energy nexus, specifically focusing on the sustainability of hydropower and bioenergy. It analyzes the environmental and social trade-offs of these energy sources, provides a detailed case study of Sweden's hydropower experience, and offers strategic recommendations for development assistance organizations supporting private sector bioenergy projects in developing countries.

This briefing note by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) details the evolution of the weADAPT platform (originally wikiADAPT) from 2007 to 2014. It synthesizes lessons learned regarding online knowledge-sharing for climate change adaptation, emphasizing the necessity of trust, face-to-face engagement, and a distributed management model to ensure sustainability and user participation.

The CAIT Equity Explorer is an online visualization tool designed to inform UNFCCC climate negotiations by allowing users to compare countries across various climate equity indicators, such as emissions and vulnerability, using radar and column charts.

This World Resources Institute working paper assesses the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction impact and implementation of the Beijing Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) between 2013 and 2015. Using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Policy and Action Standard and the Climate Policy Implementation Tracking Framework, the study finds that the ETS contributed to an earlier emissions peak for Beijing, primarily driven by reductions in electricity demand rather than improvements in power production.

This guide describes the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), a flexible framework designed to help countries identify and analyze forest landscape restoration (FLR) potential at national or sub-national levels. Developed by the IUCN and WRI, ROAM combines stakeholder engagement ("best knowledge") with data analysis ("best science") to provide analytical inputs for national policies, such as REDD+ strategies and biodiversity action plans.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) submitted this 2014 Investor CDP Information Request detailing its internal climate change management, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the reporting period of October 1, 2012, to September 30, 2013, and its strategies for operational sustainability.