Search Climate Insights Directory

The report advocates for 'Healthy Energy Homes'—housing that is energy efficient, climate resilient, and supports inhabitant well-being—as a way to simultaneously improve Indigenous health outcomes and contribute to Canada's net zero goals. It argues that current government approaches are fragmented and siloed, failing to value the long-term health costs and emissions associated with inadequate housing. The authors recommend a shift toward co-developed, long-term, and flexible financial partnerships between governments and Indigenous rights holders to overcome capacity constraints and ensure cultural relevance in housing solutions.

The report provides an extensive archive of advertisements from ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron, organized into appendices that highlight deceptive themes such as overstating greenhouse gas reductions, exaggerating renewable energy commitments, shifting responsibility to consumers, and promoting natural gas, carbon capture, hydrogen, and algae biofuels as viable climate solutions.

The report analyzes over 300 advertisements from four oil majors, arguing that they used 'paltering'—mixing truth with omissions—to mislead the public about emissions reductions, renewable energy investments, and the viability of technologies like carbon capture and algae biofuels.

The report provides a detailed appendix of advertising campaigns from four major oil companies—BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell—from 2000 to 2025. It identifies the agencies and professionals involved and describes the strategic goals of these campaigns, which often focused on rebranding the companies as environmentally responsible, promoting natural gas as a 'bridge' fuel, and shifting focus toward individual carbon footprints and low-carbon technologies like algae biofuels and carbon capture.

In 2025, the contiguous U.S. experienced its fourth-warmest year on record and 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, totaling $115 billion in damages. Globally, 2025 was the third-warmest year since 1850, with NOAA data indicating it was approximately 1.3°C warmer than the pre-industrial average. The year was marked by record-breaking December heat in the U.S. Southwest and devastating atmospheric river flooding in Washington and Oregon.

The document reports that November 2025 was the third warmest on record globally and the fourth warmest for the contiguous U.S. It highlights a long-term trend of warming winters in the U.S., where the coldest day of the year has warmed by approximately 7°F since 1970. The briefing also notes significant regional anomalies, such as extreme warmth in Texas and heavy rainfall in southern California, while discussing the ongoing La Niña advisory and its expected impacts on weather patterns through early 2026.

The document outlines how human-caused climate change affects different weather phenomena. It states that extreme heat, marine heat waves, and the intensity of heavy rain and hurricanes are increasing, while extreme cold is becoming less likely. It notes that while climate change increases hot, dry conditions contributing to droughts and wildfires, other factors like land use also play a role. For localized severe storms, the document explains that current climate models cannot yet accurately simulate specific events to make direct attribution statements.

Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions, Russia has pivoted its fossil fuel exports toward Asia. While this has partially offset revenue losses from the European market, the report argues that Russia remains locked in a hydrocarbon-centric model that is increasingly misaligned with the decarbonisation trajectories of its primary Asian customers. China and India have leveraged discounted Russian oil and coal to support economic growth while simultaneously diversifying their energy portfolios and expanding renewable capacity. Vietnam has seen modest growth in Russian coal and nascent LNG trade, balancing energy security with sustainability goals. The report highlights structural bottlenecks, such as limited rail capacity for coal and the risks of a 'shadow fleet' for oil, as significant constraints on Russia's long-term export viability.

The report evaluates CCUS as a primary decarbonization lever for India's steel sector, specifically targeting the emission-intensive BF-BOF route. It identifies single-point pre-combustion capture with gas conditioning as the most cost-effective technical approach, with a net CO2 abatement cost of USD 5560/tCO2. The study maps seven steel clusters in Eastern India and finds significant geological storage potential, primarily in deep saline aquifers (estimated at 62 Gt). To overcome high capital costs, the report proposes novel financing instruments like Partial Deep Discount Carbon STRIPS (PDDCS) bonds and the establishment of a Carbon Capture Finance Corporation (CCFC). It concludes that a breakeven carbon price of approximately INR 2,099 (USD 25)/tCO2 is necessary for project financial viability in a mature market.

The document argues that traditional green finance is insufficient for the Indian iron and steel sector because many necessary transitional technologies are not yet 'green' enough or are economically unviable. It identifies four core enablers for a transition finance (TF) market: sectoral roadmaps, climate finance taxonomies, credible corporate transition plans, and specialized TF instruments. To address high capex and cash flow constraints, the authors propose the Partial Deep Discount Carbon STRIPS (PDDCS) bond, which offers long-term debt (25-30 years) and allows investors to receive coupons in either cash or carbon credits generated by the project. The brief also suggests a flexible version (PDDB+C) to align with current Indian Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) regulations, which currently limit carbon trading to registered entities.

The report finds that while PDB climate ambition has generally increased since the Paris Agreement, progress is uneven. A small group of high-ambition PDBs provides the vast majority of climate finance, while many others remain in 'limited' or 'minimal' ambition clusters. The report identifies systemic gaps in capacity building—specifically a lack of long-term, institution-wide support—and recommends a shift toward multi-year, sequenced technical assistance and the development of regional TA ecosystems to mobilize the trillions in assets held by less ambitious PDBs.

The report finds that while OECD pension funds are increasing their climate target-setting and internal governance, their portfolios remain heavily exposed to expansionist fossil fuels. Progress is strongly linked to national regulatory environments, with the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK leading. A critical lever for future impact is the governance of the asset owner–asset manager relationship, where leading funds are moving toward more active mandates, stricter stewardship oversight, and in some cases, the internalization of asset management to ensure alignment with net-zero goals.

The document highlights the Amazon solar farm in Rajasthan, India, which has 210MW of capacity and avoids an estimated 280,000 tonnes of CO2e annually by providing zero-carbon electricity to a carbon-intensive grid. It argues that expanding renewable energy in coal-reliant systems is a highly effective way to reduce power-sector emissions and improve air quality.

The document examines how electrifying heating systems and improving energy efficiency in buildings can reduce urban emissions, highlighting Copenhagen's achievement of reducing building-related emissions by over 60% between 2019 and 2023. It notes that while such measures reduce emissions at the source, they can increase induced emissions if the electricity grid remains carbon-intensive.

The Glenbrook Steel Mill in Auckland, New Zealand, plans to install an electric arc furnace (EAF) by 2026 to replace half of its coal-based ironmaking. Supported by a $300 million investment and GIDI co-funding, the project will use a 30 MW renewable-energy agreement with Contact Energy to leverage New Zealand's approximately 90% renewable grid. This transition is expected to reduce the mill's annual emissions by up to 1 million tonnes of CO2e.

The Jardim Gramacho project in Rio de Janeiro, managed by COMLURB, has transitioned from being Latin America's largest landfill to a climate mitigation site. By implementing a landfill-gas capture system and large-scale mangrove restoration along Guanabara Bay, the project avoids an estimated 850,000 tonnes of CO2e annually. The document highlights that while conventional landfill closure is often mistaken for mitigation, active systems that capture methane for combustion or energy use, combined with biocovers and vegetation restoration, can effectively curb emissions from legacy waste sites.

The document highlights the use of soil activators and organic substitutes to reduce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer application by up to 20% without compromising crop yields, noting a specific project impact of 12,765 tCO2e in North America.

The proposal outlines a structured approach to scaling permanent carbon dioxide removals in the EU through a three-stage strategy: early-stage research and innovation (TRL 1-5), a pilot procurement programme for mature technologies (TRL 6-9), and the eventual establishment of an EU Permanent Removals Compliance Scheme (EU RCS) by 2035. The framework defines permanent removals as those storing CO2 for at least 1,000 years and introduces 'Atmospheric Removal Credits' (ARCs) managed by a Central Purchasing and Reselling Platform (CPRP). The proposal emphasizes that removals must not substitute for emissions reductions and should adhere to strict sustainability, human rights, and 'do no significant harm' criteria.

The document assesses the potential for an Emissions Trading System for Agriculture (Agri-ETS) in the EU, arguing that such a system would only be effective if it targets large-scale polluters, avoids free allowances and carbon offsets, and is integrated into a wider suite of reforms. It highlights the risks of 'GHG tunnel vision' and the necessity of reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to stop subsidising harmful practices. The author advocates for a 'Just Transition Fund for Agri-food' to support small-scale farmers using Agri-ETS revenues.

Carbon Market Watch argues that Verra's VM0052 methodology for coal transition credits is flawed and risks issuing low-quality credits that do not represent real emission reductions. The briefing identifies critical failures in additionality testing, baseline setting, leakage prevention, and just transition safeguards, specifically highlighting risks in the Philippines' energy context. It recommends a total suspension of the methodology until significant revisions are made to prevent overissuance and carbon leakage.